Early Style Markings LanCay 1st Contract M9 on EBAY

[Quarterbore]

I discovered that two of my 1st Contract LanCays M9s were marked differently and following is a photo of the three 1st Contract LanCay M9s that I own...

http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/photopost/data/503/lancay_markings.jpg

From left to right:

Left - Fullered (blood grove) LanCay (1992 Dated Fastex) Photos (http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/photopost/showgallery.php/cat/514)
Center - Non-fullered 1st Contract LanCay (1993 Dated Fastex) Photos (http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/photopost/showgallery.php/cat/515)
Right - Non-Fullered 1st Contract LanCay (I assume) (1994 Dated Fastex) Photos (http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/photopost/showgallery.php/cat/516)

Note in the photo above how the markings on the Center knife and the one on the right are not the same. I have seen dozens of LanCay M9s with markings like the one on the right but I have not seen a non-fullered LanCay marked like my one in the center until today...

Here is an auction with a LanCay M9 that looks to be a twin to mine (CENTER IMAGE ABOVE)... (http://www.qksrv.net/click-1642095-10381315?loc=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D6615585745&SID=lancay m9 bayonet)

Better hurry as it has a VERY reasonable Buy-it-Now price and I considered buying it myself as it looks to be in better condition then mine! I hope someone here buys it for their colection soon or you may see my name next to it!

[Quarterbore]

Sorry guys... I got an e-mail from the seller verifying it had a 1992 dated Fastex and the rest of the details looked right and then I looked at my knife again and what I had paid for mine and well...

I guess you already know...

[Carlo]

Sorry, but I can hardly notice any difference on the LanCay markings from the above pictures :o
Perhaps the markings from the bayonet in the middle seem a little bit deeper......
are there any othere difference to notice?
By the way, thanks Quarterbore for all the pictures you added to the forum, now we have an almost complete (but hope, growing) gallery of the M9.

[Quarterbore]

Notice the placement of the M. The earliest LanCays (from looking a few hundred or more LanCay marked M9s) are on the left more...

See how the M on the two to the left are at the level of the bevel in the blade?

Then look at the photo on the right and see how the M9 is more in the center of the blade?

When I first got the knife in the center I didn't have the fullered knife on the left and I thought it was just marked wrong somehow... Then I got my Fullered knife and found it had the same markings... Then enter this 3rd knife and well....

Once was strange
Twice was a strange coincidence
Three times just can't be a coincidence

Like I said , most LanCay marked M9s I have seen are like the one on the right and I had about 8 or these at one time when I had to buy a bunch of them in quantity (seller wanted to sell them all to same person). All were 1994 marked Fastex knives while these older knives are marked 1992 and 1993... Here are more photos (http://www.qksrv.net/click-1642095-10381315?loc=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D6612418618&SID=lancay m9 bayonet) of a different 1994 marked LanCay I sold recently on ebay IMAGE (http://www.quarterbore.com/knives/ebay/IMG_5272.JPG)

There are also differences in the finish as these older LanCays has a more course sandblasted finish when compared to the 1994 marked knives but that is tougher to be sure of as my 1992 and 1993 knives are both used where most of my 1994 knives never had the grease removed much less used... it is hard to compare with just two examples but I will have a 3rd soon now!

[Quarterbore]

I got the knife today (that was fast) and the knife as expected is marked just like mine in the center of the photo above and it has the 1992 date code.. This knife is in mint condition to boot...