Thread: John Barber razors, real or fake?

I'm wondering if anyone could help identify if these razors are genuine John Barber razors or if some are fake. The reason I question some of their authenticity is because of this document put out by John Barber declaring that there are only two marks which could appear on genuine John Barber razors.


But as you can see, several of these razors have marks other than those in the above ad.


None of the razor have any marks on the back side. Any help with the marks or dates would be greatly appreciated.

"Goins'" cutlery book shows that there were about 10 persons, related or seemingly not who used the Barber name between 1810 and 1944 with 'T Ellin' using
"ERA JAMES BARBER SHEFFIELD" as their strike.
No illustrations of marks shown.
~Richard

that is quite the stack of Barbers, real or counterfeit. I'd like to help you but honestly I just get stuff that looks cool, I'm not very good at the technical and historic side.

All the patina looks real and old. If they are fakes, they are probably 150-180 years old

Thats.a n8ce group of.old.razors. wish i had something that old. Nice!

For comparing here is my john barber & son

I have a John Barber similar to the third one down stamped John Barber on the spine, but on the tang is just the freemason symbol.

There is light at the end of the tunnel Tuzi. John Barber acquire his trademark "John Barber" and picture of a set-square and compass in 1823. The document you posted is from 1839, the document posted below is from 1834. When you read the last part of it, because of the similar I. Barber, for the future or from this time forward he will stamp his razors with both his name and compass and square trademark.



And another document.

Thanks, Martin, very interesting. So if the marks don't match those on the document, it could be that the razors are before 1834 when it was decided to use only those two marks moving forward. Still a possibility they are counterfeit, as we know that was happening at the same time.

The top one has a mark that matches the document so I'm sure that one is authentic and probably post 1834 based on your info. The next two I am fairly confident are authentic as well, maybe pre-1834?

I'm really unsure about the framebacks, maybe the one with the name on the spine and ivory scales is legitimate? Perhaps it depends on if they were making this style frameback pre-1834. The last one stands out as a real possibility of a fake as it is the only one without the name at all, but again, now I'm so so sure.

Just having fun learning more about them, it's really fascinating to me! Thanks for the responses and info so far.

Originally Posted by xiaotuzi

Thanks, Martin, very interesting. So if the marks don't match those on the document, it could be that the razors are before 1834 when it was decided to use only those two marks moving forward. Still a possibility they are counterfeit, as we know that was happening at the same time.

The top one has a mark that matches the document so I'm sure that one is authentic and probably post 1834 based on your info. The next two I am fairly confident are authentic as well, maybe pre-1834?

I'm really unsure about the framebacks, maybe the one with the name on the spine and ivory scales is legitimate? Perhaps it depends on if they were making this style frameback pre-1834. The last one stands out as a real possibility of a fake as it is the only one without the name at all, but again, now I'm so so sure.

Just having fun learning more about them, it's really fascinating to me! Thanks for the responses and info so far.

It seems that from all your "Barbers" razor the frameback without the Barber name could possibly be fake. It is also possible that it was lightly struck and sanded away at some time in history? My personal opinion now is that they are real and that John Barber published the documents because of Issac Barber (I. Barber) razors that are copies of John's.


From that point forward he made sure his razors had both trademark. Interesting history!

And the one stamped John Barber and son is post 1834 after John death.