I hate to intrude on this line, but I didn't want to start a new one. I was looking at an "old" model 14 knife (no sheath) in a "junk" shop in New Orleans this weekend. It had no thong hole liner, but something was wrong about it to my inexperienced eye.

Is there a foolproof or easy way to tell if a thong liner was drilled out? This one had some faint circular marks inside the macarta, and some other oddities in the bevel where the thong hole exited. I just couln't pull the trigger with questions in my mind. Thanks