Rifle wire cutter

[Bernie59]

Hi im in New Zealand Ive just joined dont particulary collect military stuff but have a large collection of collectables ive gathered since i was 12 about 53 years of collecting, Swapped this wire cutter off an Australian about 35 plus years ago just realised how rare it is, It is the real deal has in fine stamping pat no 17886-15 C. H. Pugh Ltd Birmingham England Mark 2 1917, and on the wingnut it has a k surrouned by 3 dots on one side and on the other side it has  715 on one wing and 1/8 or 1/4 hard to tell on other.also just found when cleaning it it has an arrow stamped on the square head of the bolt, also it has a longer arm on one side with 3 rivets in it, i see the reproductions on your pages only have 2 rivets. A lot of army surplus gear did come to Australia and NewZealand  so that may be how it got here as it looks a though it was never used. so im thinking of selling it on ebay what would it be worth, and are any of you guys interested in it. It was in mint condition but has been in storage in a shed for some years and has light rust on one side but should clean off.  

[Pete_C]

A very impressive, genuine example. Mark II cutters are far more common than the earlier 1916, Somme era Mk I cutters - easily distinguished as the MK I cutters have shorter, slightly asymmetrical horns, and when deployed correctly were attached to the right hand side of the rifle, horns pointing rearward. That said, the Mk II is still a rare and highly desirable iconic Great War piece. Unfortunately they tend to fetch less now than they did say five years back, largely due to the many convincing copies that have flooded the market, certainly in the UK. A look at a few recently completed sales - eBay/UK auction houses - suggests an average iro £250 - £350 for Mk II examples - copies or not, purchased as genuine.
The majority of copies that come to market - modelled as Mk I and Mk II - are marked up ‘C H Pugh Ltd’ and usually dated 1917. They are relatively easy to distinguish from authentic cutters once you know what to look for. The more obvious giveaways are - the lettering is invariably heat/laser etched giving a rounded, bubbly finish to the letters rather than the fine, sharply stamped characters you refer to on your example - C H Pugh Ltd subcontracted the manufacture of the wing-nuts to A Kendrick & Sons Ltd, Birmingham (still in business) who stamped all the nuts with their distinctive trademark letter K surrounded by 3 stars, as noted - looking from the side, the taper of the two side plates from the wider portion containing the cutters to the narrower horns, should be gradual and smooth as in your example, whereas the copies have a pronounced, almost folded step down to the horns - the side plates are usually (but not always) of a lighter gauge steel on copies. These are my observations - other members might chip in with additional features to look out for.

I would rate your example in the £350 range given its (imo) undoubted authenticity - or possibly c. £400 without the light rusting, but that’s only my UK based opinion. I believe the value would be considerably higher if it weren’t for the many fakes that have come to market. I’d rate Mk I cutters c. £650 plus, but from long experience of collecting and occasional selling, the value often depends as much on which way the wind’s blowing on the day you sell it.

Cheers,

Pete

 

Edited 30 January by Pete_C

[Bernie59]

Thanks for that information Pete very interesting do the copies have the arrow stamped on them?

Bernie

[Pete_C]

48 minutes ago, Bernie59 said:

Thanks for that information Pete very interesting do the copies have the arrow stamped on them?

Bernie

Sometimes, but not always. The first copies that appeared in the UK decades ago were sold as copies and were completely unmarked.
Another helpful telltale sign of a copy is the format of the abbreviation ‘LTD’ after the maker’s name - the style at the time was to superscript the ‘TD’ and underline the two characters, as in the examples below. All the copies I have encountered carry the ‘LTD’ format with each of the three characters being the same height.

Edited 30 January by Pete_C