Making the grade: How to grade your collector knives. Free knife grading guide.

Jon Warren

The iGuide Grading Guide provides several layers of depth to appeal to both new and advanced collectors alike. We suggest "report card" grades which we hope will help non-experts. Grading should be easy but too often for new collectors it is not. A term like MINT is vague for newbies. But grade A makes sense to anybody who has ever received a report card. The iGuide Grading Guide provides our so-called "report card" letter grades from A+ to F, as well our our 1 to 10 numeric grades (on a scale of 1 to 10) and then the standard grades used by many collector books. These grades attempt to describe preservation state. They follow rules used by collectors for years to keep things clear when buying, selling, or talking about items. Grading helps with consistency in buying, selling, and advertising. Proper grading takes a lot of experience and is more an art than a science, so we hope this guide will help you get started as you learn how to MAKE THE GRADE.

Unused Grades

The term UNUSED refers to a knife that has never been used. It has never been sharpened, carried, handled and is in unused condition. The unused grades range from a perfect A+ to an unused but showing faint signs of wear from opening/closing but without sharpening (B). Unused knives can be divided into these major grades:

A+

Mint in Box (OMP)
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 10.
Perfect, i.e. - in OMP (original manufacture's packaging) where applicable. Brilliant, unusually bright, LIKE NEW. Example is in brand new condition, includes the original box and all original paperwork (if applicable) included in the box at the time of original purchase. The box itself is in new to almost new condition and exhibits few if any flaws. The knife inside the box is in brand new condition and has no noticeable flaws.

A

Mint or aka M
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 9.
Almost like new to new. Never used, never carried, never sharpened. No cracks, no wobble, excellent snap; may be lacking the OMP (original manufacturer's packaging). Extremely fine, Superb. Example is in almost like new condition. The box itself is in excellent condition but may possess a minor flaws such as corner dings, small creases in the box or even small scratches on the box.

A-

Near Mint or NM
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 8.
Almost perfect. Never used, never carried, never sharpened. No cracks, no wobble, excellent snap; may be lacking the OMP (original manufacturer's packaging). Deep, rich color with excellent original patina and gloss. May exhibit one or two minor carbon spots on a backspring, bolster, or blade.

B+

Very Fine or VF
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 7.
An exceptional example. Acceptable to all but the most finicky collector. This is a bright, clean, extremely fine example. Never used, never carried, never sharpened. Could possibly have a pin crack (minor), but has no wobble, and has excellent blade snap; may be lacking the OMP (original manufacturer's packaging). The item may have very minor spotting but no signs of sharpening. The backspring exhibit carbon spotts or a minor scratch or two. Otherwise, the item has no major defects but may not be quite as bright as Near Mint. May or may not have original box.

B

Fine Very Fine or FVF
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 6.
Showing signs of storage wear. Never used, never carried, never sharpened. Could possibly have a pin crack (minor), but has no wobble, and has excellent blade snap. Although this example may or may not include the original box (if applicable, many early knives never came in a box), it also may or may not include original paperwork (if applicable) included in the box at the time of original purchase. If the box itself is present, it may not be in ideal condition The box most likely has several creases, tears, scratches, etc.

An unused Case knife with a pin crack. Pin cracks are common with Case yellow composites.

Used Grades

Knives that have been sharpened, carried, handled and played with by the children are considered USED. They have been in circulation, meaning they have been handled, fondled, admired, and carried (like they were supposed to be) sometimes for decades. As a result, they are worn to one degree or another. Collectors have established the following grades for rating just how used an item actually is:

C+

Fine or F
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 5.
Still fine without chips, cracks, color flakes or visible damage of any kind, but aging in a more significant amount than in the FVF grade. The knife has been carried, sharpened, handled and is obviously used. It may have a crack or pin cracks, may have a weak blade snap. Possible minor wobble may be noticeable when testing the blades.

C

Very Good or VG
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 4.
An average used knife. Knife has been sharpened. It has blade wobble. It has a crack or several pin cracks. It is obviously USED. The blades are worn and possibly slightly pitted, although not to an extreme degree. This example may exhibit color flake or blade crazing, or bolster/backspring scratches but is complete without major damage or repairs.

A heavily worn Case knife exhibiting blade pitting.

C-

Good to Very Good or GD/VG
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 3.
Very much used. Beginning to show signs of significant wear. It has blade wobble. It has a crack or several pin cracks. It has been heavily sharpened over the years.

D

Good or GD
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 2.
A worn, crazed, distressed example. This example is in visibly worn condition, and could have flaws which may include small scratches or surface wear. However, this does not includes broken or chipped blades or missing pieces. Typically a filler-copy only.

D-

Fair or FR
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 1.
The lower grades are separated by degrees of damage. The accumulation of many defects lowers the item from the D grade down to D-. This example is in used, displayed or battered condition. It has been heavily sharpened and may contain scratches, blade wear, chips, dings or even small cracks.

F

Poor or PR
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 0.
Extremely worn, damaged or incomplete, although such should be noted. This example is in distressed condition...