Jim--

Your comments remind me of a couple of issues about collecting knives, including Randalls.

About engraving...Most engravers sign their work with their initials or name. But...people who pay them to scratch on metal don't always (or usually) keep records of who did it, when, and what it cost. So the true value of the item going forward might be diminished.

Also, just what wood went onto a knife is usually/often lost insofar as there are no paper records about the purchase. That leaves it for others to speculate about what wood the handle is made from, whether it was stabilized, etc.

It is a thoughtful owner who keeps the records to go with the knives after they buy them, and a lucky collector who manages to get those records when the knives are passed on.

Larry