Dragon head gold knife or letter opener?pic

[mikesfind]

Appears to be gold but haven't had it tested. Found buried underground several years ago. Any information on origin or value is welcome.

 

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[Monty]

Re: Knife i found digging in back yard.

Letter opener? Monty

 

[TreasureTales]

Re: Knife i found digging in back yard.

Very cool!!! And welcome to the forum.

The knife has an Asian appearance. Could be old Chinese knife? Any history of the Chinese in your area?

 

[dugupfinds]

Love to spread my marmite with that.

 

[The Gemologist]

How long is it.

Do you have more info or a full length picture

 

[Nashoba]

Size and weight would be a great help in figuring out what it is. Testing it for gold content is easy enough.
~Nashoba~

 

[98 gt]

don't letter openers typically have a very pointy end?

 

[dugupfinds]

I would guess its 20th century souvenir. Nice looking piece.

 

[Ant]

I would say it’s a letter opener. To me the handle isn’t designed for gripping and the blade has too much of a curve to it to do much other than slash.

Nice Find

HH

 

[MiddenMonster]

Looks more like a fish to me - it has fins and scales.

I think it's a dragon. It also has ears and fangs...

 

[MiddenMonster]

Ears?? I thought they were gills.

Dragons have scales, as they are made of the parts of several animals:

http://dragons.monstrous.com/types_of_dragons.htm
"According to Wang Fu (Han 206 BC-220 AC)dragons are made up of many different types of animals of the Earth: the body of a snake, scales of a carp, head of a camel, horns of a deer, the eyes of a hare, ears like a bull, a neck like an iguana, belly of a frog, paws like a tigers, and claws like an eagle. A lion-type mane decorates its neck, its chin, and each elbow. They also carry two antler-like horns on their wide-mouthed head, and two long whiskers spread out from their snout."

Here's how I was looking at the anatomy of the critter:

​

 

[MiddenMonster]

Is there something in between dragon and fish? Those are definitely fins - not paws.

I think they are features more along the lines of a "neck like an iguana".

 

[diggummup]

It's a dragon's head and it looks like it's made of brass,probably early to mid 20th century.Letter opener.

 

[erik12152003]

I have one it's a letter opener if I can find it I will post picture used to dig with it in the yard when i was young. It was the only knife I could have.

 

[Postalrevnant]

Welcome to the forum Mikesfind. Absolutely sweet find. That is really awesome.

Congratulations,

Postalrevnant

 

[Ant]

I think it looks like a dragon. Oh wait, now that I look at it,
it looks like a duckbill platypus, dragon and fish, hehehe.

It’s a dragon with armor plates.

 

[DJ_Quinn]

Gold? I would speculate that its brass but I hope I'm wrong because you would have a valuable little relic there if it's solid gold.

 

[stefen]

I do not want to rain on your parade (and I could be totally wrong), I would speculate that this is cast brass simply by its appearance and the fact that it looks crudely crafted.

The detail of a gold casted item would be crisp and refined.

Besides this appears to be a sand casting and not a lost wax process.

 

[diggummup]

I see this was his first post and he hasn't replied yet so.......