World’s smallest penknife going under the hammer

By Adam Dutton via SWNS

The world’s smallest penknife will go under the hammer after a craftsman made it to win a pub bet more than 170 years ago.

The miniscule weapon, measuring just 7mm with the blade closed, is smaller than a penny.

It was made around 1850 by a master cutler who bet locals in a pub in Sheffield that he owned the smallest penknife in the world.

It was inherited by pensioner Brian Jackson, 79, who has spent his life collecting antiques from around the world.

The retired export finance manager from Staffordshire, England, is now selling the knife, along with more than 160 antique weapons.

The entire collection is expected to fetch between £40,000 to £50,000 ($51,401 to $64,252) at auction.

Brian said: “My aunt’s friend gave me the tiny penknife in the 1950s.

“Apparently in the dim and distant past one of their family members became a master cutler at one of the big Sheffield cutlery firms.

“He made the knife and apparently won many a bet with people down the tavern that he had the smallest penknife in the world.”

Other treasures being sold include a 19th century Chinese Pudao or "horse cutter" broadsword worth £1,000- £2,000 ($1,285 to $2,570) along with various swords and guns from the Napoleonic War and the First world War.

Brian added: “I’ve always had an interest in guns since my childhood cowboys-and-Indians days but never thought they would be within my reach.

“One day I was chopping firewood - my household chore at the age of eight - and the axe shaft broke.

“I was given a WW1 bayonet by a family friend as something which would not break.

“Obviously this never chopped a piece of wood and was soon on display on my bedroom wall.

“This was in the early 1950s and it started a collecting hobby that has lasted a lifetime.

“I suppose it was the workmanship and how these things developed that was the real fascination.

“I like to research where they were made and discover their background.

“I acquired them mainly at auctions around the country and at antique and second-hand shops but I had some chance finds.

“I found the Malayan kris when I was walking the dog.

"I saw a gentleman planting some flowers and could not believe my eyes because he was using a kris to make holes in the ground.

“I asked if he would he sell it. He said no as it was his dibber, so I offered to get him a proper trowel.

“I returned with a trowel and fork and we did the exchange. He had the holder for the kris somewhere in the greenhouse.

“He went off and came back with a filthy black scabbard. When I cleaned it up it I was actually silver. That was a great find.

“Another chance discovery was a Westley Richards shotgun presented to the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1860 with silver plate on the stock.

“Apparently this was given by one of his relatives to my uncle who ran the Fox & Hounds pub on the border of the Ingstre Estate in Staffordshire.

“I found it in the pub cellar many years later when it was given to me.

“Another time I was talking to an old farmer in a pub in Betley, Staffordshire.

“We were admiring a sword on the wall and he told me about a rifle he’d found lodged
on a beam in an old granary on his land. He invited me round to see it and I ended up buying it.

“I also have a Scottish broadsword which was kept under a relative’s bed in case of intruders; a Chinese Butterfly Sword found in an antique shop during a holiday in Margate and a Mau Mau knife brought back by a District Commissioner for Kenya when he retired to the UK.”

Brian is selling his antique armory after his wife raised concerns about their safety.

He added: “Over the years some items have been displayed on walls or display cases in my home but most have been kept in a large, locked room with high security.

“I very reluctantly took the decision to sell due to my age and the fact that my wife is concerned about the collection should anything happen to me.

“I would like my finds to go to people who will appreciate them as much as I have.”

Brian’s entire collection is going under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbys., on August 15.