Ontario Commemoratives

[lee cousens]

I have recently bought the ARMY & USMC commemo :confused: :confused: rative ONTARIO m9 s , could anybody tell me if there is an air force version?

[porterkids]

Ontario only made an Army and USMC commemorative. They supposedly made 500 of each. I imagine they only made these two as these are the two branches of the US military that use the M9 bayonet.
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[lee cousens]

Thanks for the info :)

[Carlo]

Hello,
at the moment there is one of these bayonets (US Army version) for sale on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-US-Army-Ontario-USGI-M9-Bayonet-1-of-500-NEW_W0QQitemZ6601581736QQcategoryZ10953QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem
An example of an Ontario commemorative for the USMC is shown in the following tread in this forum
http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/showthread.php?t=34
My question is: until now the Ontario commemoratives I saw for sale on ebay were ALL numbered on the blade "1 of 500" :grin: ..I never saw a blade with written on it "2 of 500" or "150 of 500".
So, are they really a "limited edition"?
I honestly can't understand if the "1 of 500" logo on the blades means that:
a) the bayonet is the number # 1 (so there should be a number # 2, 3....of a total of 500 made, or
b) the bayonet is one (not numbered) of a total of 500 made --> all the bayonets have the same marking "1 of 500"?
Found this a little bit confusing....

[porterkids]

All of the bayonets are marked "1 of 500". There is no number 2. It simply means that they made 500 bayonets and this is one of them.
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[Old-Smithy]

MAny of these commemeratives are marked on th ebox, and literature only.setting up a system to individually number the blades would be expensive, so keep your box!

[porterkids]

Since this post first appeared Ontario has also come out with a SOCOM M9 bayonet. Again, a 500 piece run.

[mountainbikernc]

Sorry, I still don't know if these are worth it/worth collecting. It reminds me of the Commerative Obama stuff being sold, Commerative quarters, etc.

Thanks

[porterkids]

When you get right down to it, what is any of this stuff really worth? Within the last year I've seen Chevron M9s sell for $1500 and a Buck USMC for over $2000. Both of those are basically the same thing as the Ontario M9, aren't they? Why do they have a perceived value so much higher than the Ontario commemoratives? It can't be due to the number made; there are over 1000 Chevrons and there are 5000 Buck USMCs. There are only 500 of the Ontarios.

I guess what I'm trying to say without getting too philosophical is that any of this stuff we value so highly is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it when we put it up for sale. I personally buy every commemorative and foreign copy of the M9 that I come across. Some of them will probably decrease in value in the short term but I collect M9s and I am trying to have a complete and comprehensive collection. I believe that there will be a market for these in the future when collectors are trying to round out their collections.

[lee cousens]

You may be right, i sold my 2 Ontarios, how do we know there are only 500 made????
I think the earlier Phrobis desert storm commeratives will hold their value better even though they are not advertised as a limited addition, well i love mine:smile:

[ColinG]

My belief is that if a bayonet, or any other militaria (1911A1s for example), is made as a collectable commerative it will probably never be worth much or as much as a military piece made exclusively for military personnel and distribution. The less made for military issue, the more valuable. I own approximately 20 M9 and not a one is a commerative, nor will I ever own one.

Also the military issue items, because they are military issue items, are probably harder to find in good to excellent condition than commerative even though hundreds or even thousands more were manufactured than commeratives. So just because 5000 USMC Buck M9's were made, that doesn't nessarily mean that there are 4500 more out there than the Ontario USMC commeratives.

[Old-Smithy]

. I personally buy every commemorative and foreign copy of the M9 that I come across. Some of them will probably decrease in value in the short term but I collect M9s and I am trying to have a complete and comprehensive collection. I believe that there will be a market for these in the future when collectors are trying to round out their collections.

I feel the same, though for me the investment potential is not one i subscribe too, no kids and single so dont care how much my colelction is worth - may be different when i retire. I collect bayonets in general, if i start colelcting one model "seriously" i try to get every version, variation and type of the there is, from the original first through every re incarnation and modfication. I dont think a collection of any model would be complete if it didnt include, repro's fakes, commercial copies etc. Of course in the M9 case this is hard since there is a huge commercial aspect that brings new versiosn out on a regular basis (M11A1 anyone). The problem with this is that it can force prices up as you strive to get ones you dont have, be it hollow ground, Australian, Dutch, shallow fuller etc. It is what collecting i all about, and thnkfully ther is always a new need coming up.

[Old-Smithy]

Got to agree there or my BCN M9 woudl be worth a fortune, it is unlikley that commemeratives will rise markedly in value, but as i said it isnt why i collect, their value will be down to people like me and Bill who try to collect every variation we can, Civilian blades have never been worth as much as Military issue, with some small excpetions with specially enscribed German and British blades or ones dedicated to a person or position. But to each their own.....:nanabang:

[MarineMP]

Hello everyone. I found your website when I was searching for "Commemorative M9 Bayonet" on Google.

I am a former Marine and did a tour in Iraq back in 2004-05. While I was there, a good friend of mine sent me an Ontario M9 Commemorative Bayonet. I kept it in the box and it is in 100% perfect condition. I don't think there are many other of these M9's that have actually been in Iraq.

It is the Operation Iraqi Freedom Knife with "NO OUTCOME BUT VICTORY" stamped on it. It is the MARINE version and there was only 500 of them made. It has "1 of 500" stamped on it, but I do not think this is the actual #1 knife. There is a "430" imprinted on the paper sheath, but I have seen the same "430" on another knife on the internet. So, this is not knife #430 either.

I am wondering if any of you can help me out. I am trying to figure out what it's worth. Should I hang on to it or sell it?

Thanks! - Rob

[Mister Moon]

It is impolite to sell a present...

[Mister Moon]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ontario-M9-M-9-Bayonet-USMC-MARINE-Commemorative-MINT-/290468292445?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

[pwcosol]

Someone ought to find out if Ontario retained or destroyed the stamping dies for their USMC & US Army commemorative bayonets. If they have done so, then it is likely there will be no more produced. However if not... who knows. As for what is "collectible" in M9 bayonets, it depends on what your aim is. When I started out, my intention was to acquire military contract variants, as produced by Phrobis/BUCK. But then, I found many of the Phrobis & BUCK commercial patterns also drew my interest, so decided to include them. Later I began to seek out LanCay military contract variants as well, and/or any of the color patterns utilized by military or para-military organizations (such as the case with limited numbers of the "rescue orange" Lan-Cay M9s). So far, I have avoided being drawn into the bottomless pit of Lan-Cay multi-colored commercial M9s, but I also thought the same about Phrobis commemoratives until I ended up with some...