Rocky

Thank you all for the compliments. This one is headed for my display cast, with a couple other nice units.

Reverse [attachmentid=29866]

Found this one at the SOS. Real high vault which makes it hard to photograph and maintain symmetry. Only marking is 900. Reverse appears to have some protective finish applied? Comments, opinions appreciated. Thanks [attachmentid=29865]

Bob, I have been an edged weapon collector for about 10 years. I have collected knives in general for 40 years. The thing that got me into TR was my father was in Africa and Italy 42 - 45. He brought home a few medals and gave me these when I was a kid. I can remember shining my shows with a arm band. Got real interested again later in life and started buying and selling badges to buy a dagger or sword. Funny how each of use got to be collectors. See you this week?

J, Thank You. It has turned into one of my favorite edged weapons. A word of caution regarding the Fire Officals Dagger. Some super copies are coming out of the former communist block countries. Should you see a standard Carl Eickhorn with a white blade buffer ( should be red ) and or the CE Logo etched vs. stamped it is more then likely a modern day copy.

Ed, great makers mark for Ludwig Lauer (1) of (4) listed in The Iron Time by Previtera. The pin is a bit different, I had not seen one like that before; however, it could have been replaced. Most of the repros on 1870 EK I's I have seen have the tweezer type pin or the double hooks at 3 & 9 o'clock. JMO -- Good

One thing is for sure and that is once the price goes up it will not come down. Another interesting thing happened at the same time. The Dealers from Europe used to come to the shows with a ton of high quality items enough to fill 5 - 7 tables. Now they only pay for 2 - 3 tables, bring below par items and a big bag of money. Many of the long time collectors took advantage of the higher Euro and sold out and made a lot of money ( good for them ). But that also raised the bar another notch, now the "entry level" collector cannot afford to buy at these crazy prices so instead they hoard beanie babies. There are so many fine looking medals, badges and awards in the world that I have started to collect items with "eye appeal." The fine enamels and hand work from craftsman long gone to time. You can buy a ton of Turkish, Austrian and Estonian Medals for the price of one SS Dagger.

One other important item is the position of the Euro vs. the US Dollar. At one point the large German dealers were coming to the big shows and when they stepped through the doors it was like they were getting a 25% discount. This was just a couple years ago, today it is more like 15%. In response the American dealers hiked their prices to offset the difference. The American dealers know full well if and when the Euro and the US Dollar are once again equal neither will drop their prices. To get ready for what the dealers knew was going to happen they increased their prices on inventory they had bought when the Euro and US Dollar were reveresed. Because they knew they would eventually have to replace it with higher dollar items. As collectors we have had to add fewer pieces to our collections each year. It does not take the fun out of collecting but it sure limits were I thought my collecting was headed. JMO

Thanks Rich. It is a killer, I wanted the folks to have a look because I am real proud this dagger. Here I only discuss my collection. This is a good forum for all things military. I see you have added a couple nice Armies. - Good for you. Happy Collecting

[attachmentid=27624] This is the latest addition to my collection. It is a Imperial Prussian Fire Officials Dagger. Carl Eickhorn Model 527. It is a non standard dagger, the fittings appear to be silver, the grip is ebony and it is near mint. Oh and it is hanging on my wall. Any other Fire Official Daggers folks out there?

Sure Bob. This is about as good as I can get because of the concave surface. Hope this will keep the topic going and we will see more Stars from other makers. [attachmentid=26951]

Rich, I am not sure that the 2 crests are the same. It is most interesting and I will try to get a better photo of mine. If you look just below the crown you will see the Meybauer has a line up and one down. The R&N does not. Could they be the same? Very interesting. Thank You!

Rothe & Neffe reverse. [attachmentid=26887]

One of my favorite awards. Thank you all for sharing your variations and groups. I like the various types of enamel patterns. I agree that 15 is about a good number. Here is one of my favorites by Rothe & Neffe. [attachmentid=26886]

Ed, I have seen these "Duals" in single pieces. I have also seen these where the spange is connected directly to the EK as you have shown, and a third type with a connector plate to attach the spange and EK. All (3) types ---- some good and also bad. On this example I would be inclined to say it is questionable. I base this on (2) things. The large ray screw back is not generally seen on the 1914 EK I. Instead a smaller screw back with (2) raised ridges is the norm for a screw back or a standard pin, hinge and clasp. What I dislike most on this example is the eagles head. The head of the Eagle on this spange looks too flat and narrow. After thumbing through a couple books the Eagles heads were more round. JMO, hope this helps.

Andreas thank you for pulling us back to today. My (2) Cents, Finding an authentic PLM on ebay -- no way. Perhaps a couple years before the Eban before folks really knew what they were offering, but not today. Oh for the good old days, but they are gone along with the 700 PLMs Old Saying " If You Want It Bad, Then You Will Get It Bad" Matt's Collectibles