Unusual 1978 Soldier by Victorinox.

[jnoxyd]

I have got an interesting 1978 Soldier made by Victorinox. It has old style cross for WK stamp but it is blank. It has 78 on the blade but +PAT stamp on the can opener. Yes, I can suppose that main blade can be replaced but blank WK placeholder looks not very common. What do you think?     


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[Tomcat_81]

Well, one scenario  seems the most likely to me:
This knife was built (much) later to use up old stock that never entered the army (thus the unstamped cross). I've seen a few unusual combinations like this before (they are a rare and sought-for field of collection! ) and Vic has a reputation for keeping and using leftovers ;-)
Tomcat

[Huntsman]

I think the red shield was introduced in 1977 onto the Soldiers and at that time they created the wee panel for the WK stamp.
The WK stamp was not withdrawn until 88
However your knife is a '78, yet has no red shield, it has the WK panel but no WK stamp - so I think it is likely that it was never a Soldier - and that TC81 is correct - in that it is a non-military knife from the factory made up of 'left over' military parts, or possibly even incorrectly manufactured parts - ie panel but no shield?

Sakwiki has some good info on the Soldier page - particularly the links to the old SOSAK articles.
I am no expert - just regurgitating what I see there!!

But this is a nice find, in its uniqueness, if our theories are correct