Hauptmann

Hi Henrik, If there's any way you can see this in person... smell it. If a repaint, paint tends to leave an odor for a surprising number of years. The star looks like the standard type they used but perhaps kind of funny that it go so much rust and not the area around it. I had one of these walk into my room once many moons ago. A friend's dad had sent it back from the war. When he came back he'd forgotten all about it. It was stored at his mom's house in the attic. It was like pristine mint and very complete... but no star or any insignia on the outside as I recall. Even the chinstrap was tied in the proper manner. I should have hung onto it. But number one I had no idea they would go up like they did. And at the time I had eyes for little other than German items and particularly those from WWII. And then, I tried to buy it back from the guy I sold it to a few years later and he wouldn't let it go. Even tried having some mutual friends try... no luck. No idea where it is now. Oh the dumb things we do at times. I know good complete untouched examples tend to go for what I'd consider a mint, especially compared with all those years ago. But as far as repaints and messed with examples... no idea. Of course alot depends on the price too. If it's a song... and it was me and I had it to spare I'd probably consider going for it. If it's high book then I'd definitely want to get it checked by as many more eyes as I could. Hopefully one of the other members with alot more experience on these will pop on and give you a helpful hand. Best of luck with it. Hope it turns out. Dan

Hi Hardy, Wow, many thanks for the compliment! They love the attention. Glad I got it right on the one on the Army dagger... figured it was for a sword. But still wish I'd not left it go. Any idea on the unit, etc? How about on the one that's in pieces? On the Bayo one... you're kidding? And to think I've just had this stuff sitting in a drawer all this time. If I could get that kind of $$'s for it I think I might consider letting it go... could use that right now to take care of something else more in line with my current lines of collecting. And again I've never been into these so in a way would prefer someone who is to get it and be able to enjoy it and take care of it. Very nice to know it's something of value and importance. I think it was in with a box of assorted stuff I got... either that or I picked it up from a bits and pieces table or box somewhere along the way. Just been too long and can't remember. Well over twenty years ago I'm sure. Mucho thanks! Dan

Oh, if anyone has a way to make the images of the blades look better... lighter, etc., I'd be most abliged if they want to try their hand at it. Thanks, Dan

Hi all, How about sword, dagger, bayonet and knife blades? Especially in the case of anything engraved... can they be restored to even some semblance of their former glory if they've been mistreated in the past? Reason I ask is I have a hunting sword with a double engraved blade which was fingered and not wiped down long before I owned it. When I got it the damage was already done. Here's pics of the blade: And the full post on this: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14313 It's the last of three items covered in that post. Then on that one as well as this sword: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14286 there's been separation of the stitching that holds the leather scabbards together on the one side. Is there any way to restore those... or should they be left alone? Granted the leather is old so my fear is that a restoration might end up causing more problems then it solves... but figured I'd ask as I'm sure I'm not the only one out there with blades or leather items that have these problems. Thanks, Dan

Here, here! I second the motion! Can't wait to see it in all it's glory. I know it'll be fabulous! Godspeed on getting it all finished. Dan

Again, there's probably nothing earth shattering here... but if nothing else I think they are interesting. I hope some of you share that view. Thanks for stopping by to take a look. Dan

Now this one I know is an Imperial German hunting sword. I got it at one of my first shows. I think the seller was asking $90 but we chatted for a bit... it was close to the end of the show and I walked out with it at $75. No idea if I did well or not. It has a couple of problems, at least. One, it's missing one of the acorn decorations on the grip. Second, the stitching on much of the leather on the one side has given way with age. Third, this is definitely an example of a mishandled blade that was not cared for. And a shame too as it has a beautiful scene engraved on each side. Again no idea if there's a way to restore this blade to more of it's original glory. Anyhow I gave this to Kim and every time someone would come over and see the den (where she keeps it) she very proudly points out that that is one of her pieces. She's always been very happy with it, warts and all. I'd love to get her an even nicer one some day so that's yet another goal sitting around waiting to be fulfilled.

Okay, now for the other one from that group. I'm assuming this is an old hunting dagger. As with the foil there was no scabbard. What you see is what I got. Again nothing fancy... but I've always been curious to learn more about it if possible.

Hi all, Okay... after an entire day waiting for the photos to get downloaded I've finally got what I need for this post. First up is one that I got from an ad in the paper. A lady was selling off her late husbands collection. To be honest, she didn't have anything spectacular by the look of things. A Sears .22 rifle from the 60's or 70's, a few swords and knives... which honestly looked touristy or maybe good... maybe not (hopefully we'll find out on at least a couple of them soon, and a few canes. She really seemed determined to sell them even though I told her there just wasn't much value there and most of it was really not much good for what I collected. But she was so insistant that finally I just made her an offer of $100 for the lot more or less because I thought she'd consider it too little and decide to just keep the ad in and sell to others. But she said that would be fine... so I gave her her money, loaded up the stuff and went home. I've basically had all the stuff sitting around for ages ever since. So first off is what I'm assuming is a foil. It looks old... may be "good" or may just be tourist made... no idea. Either way, here it is:

At the time (I hope rightly) in my limited knowledge I felt that this was not proper for a German Army Officers dagger nor would it have been properly worn on the scabbard as opposed to around the grip. So I carefully removed it. I truly hope I did not do the wrong thing as then I'll feel all the worse for the entire situation. Here are the pics of the "extra": As you can see... other than the colors they are still very similar. Over time and with them having been out of sight out of mind for so long at the time and for whatever reason stored in different places in my den I ended up making the mistake. God how I wish I'd pulled them all out, along with the Polaroid and checked before I dove in. Even if he'd not wanted the damaged one... I'd rather have made less and still had my Uncles bring back to keep it with the rest. Lord knows enough of his stuff went to the four winds that I was supposed to inherit and place with the collection to be handed down in the family. Arrrrrgh! Anyhow, I'm hoping perhaps you or one of the other members might be able to tell something about these other pieces. This has definitely not been an area I've even come close to specializing in or actively collecting so any knowledge will certainly be a blessing... and perhaps make me less dangerous in future. I'm also wondering come to think of it... if there's any possibility of repairing the leather on this somehow? It's the way I got it, except for the fact that it had that old style tape wrapped around the broken ends... the kind with the stringy material in it, that all disintegrates when it gets old. I've removed all that. Again not sure if it's worth fooling with or not. Many thanks!!!! Dan

Okay... just got back up from the bunker, scrounging and scanning and such. Hoping this will all show up well enough to do some good. At least perhaps I'll now know what I had and if the other is of any consequence or not. First off, one of the original pics from my Uncle showing his daggers: And some closeups:

Hi Hardy, Many thanks on all this great info for this piece! It does have a bit of a sad story though. I'd originally gotten my Uncle Jack's German daggers and bayonet he'd brought back from WWII. He'd dug them out one day and thought I might like them. Included with them was a portepee. I still have it in the original Poloroids he'd sent along to see if I was intro'd in the daggers and such. So I got the whole bunch and kept everything of his in my collection. Years later I got this one and one other which looked very similar to Jack's although the leather was in pieces. I'll have to go down and dig and see what I can come up with in a few minutes. Then even further down the road I was making some deals with a Gent I dealt with up in Delaware... needed some cash to pay some bill or for Christmas for Nick and Kim or some such and was pairing down my extras and things of no interest. Well, I grabbed one of the portepees that I thought was the extra, having forgotten that the extra was the one with the damaged leather. Turns out, after the deal was made and I'd sent the stuff I had occassion to look at that original Poloroid and realized I'd done the deal for the wrong one... I'd sent him the one my Uncle had brought back!!!! So I rushed to the phone and called him, esplained the situation in the hope that he would be willing to exchange it for this one. Sadly, he'd gotten it for resale and it had already gone at a flea market or show or some such. So no way to trace the buyer. So off went another piece of family history to the four winds! And this time it was my own stupidity that did it! To this day I feel miserable about it. But nice to know this one seems to be something good. Just out of curiosity, what is something like this worth nowadays? I generally keep it in a drawer with other odds and ends but wondering if it should take a more important place of display in the collection. Also what period would this be... WWI or pre WWI? And what type of bayo would it be best to display it on? I have a few German bayos but nothing fancy anymore And I think only one has it's frog. I'd definitely want to do right by it, especially if it's an important piece but I'm nearly in the dark about such things... knowing enough to be dangerous. Anyhow I'll take a trudge down in the bunker and see if I can dig up pics. If so I'll pop them up on here in just a bit. Thanks again, Dan

Hi John, Wow... pretty darned near identical if you ask me! Any idea of the time frame for it? How about value? I'm always a bit curious about that as I always try to keep Kim and Nick abreast of such things "just in case". Although I'm hoping the collection will continue to be handed down but I do like them to know what potential treasures they're sitting on... as well as any duds. Thanks so much for the help on this one. Didn't take you long to nail it down at all. But it's yet one more example of the miracles performed by our terrific membership at the GMIC. Dan

Hi Gents, Thanks to all of you for all the info and your great comments. I must admit that the young boy in me was hoping for a confirmation of this being something special from the days of Imperial China. As a boy I'd always thought it was a Chinese executioners sword. Boys will be boys eh? Has to be some adventure and can't just be something as bland as a tourist souvenir. But it is good the know the truth of the matter. I will say, this thing has to be older than the hills. It was terribly old when I first saw it as a young boy as part of my dads collection. No idea when it was made but it's got to go back there a ways. Again many thanks for all the help on this and at least it seems to have given a bit of entertainment which makes it all worthwhile. Dan

Hi all, Not sure if this goes here or especially if it's ID'd for a particular country/era if it would be better placed in another section. I'll leave it up to the powers that be. Had this one forever and a day. No history on it. What you see is what I got. Any ideas? Dan

Dan

Hi all, Here's a couple of eagles... one very small and the other a bit bigger, but not by much. Probably similar in size to the one AH used to wear on the upper part of his tie at times.

I hope someday to be able to acquire the Army and Air Force versions as well. I also have the brocade dress belts with hangars for these daggers. Dan

And now a later one from 1977. It's in much better shape than the older example:

Hi all, Here are my two examples of Soviet Naval Officers daggers. I got these in trade years ago. I'm a fan of the old Sci-Fi show Seaquest DSV and I have several original props and set pieces from the show. A gentleman I used to know had a daughter who also loved the show and especially the character of Lucas played by the late Jonathan Brandis. I managed to get him one of the jackets that had been worn by Jonathan on the series. In exchange he traded me these two daggers... the 1953 was actually a throw in. The 1953 was as I say a throw in. The reason being he'd described it to me as having been damaged and that it looked like someone had used it to dig in a garden. When I got it I felt all it needed was some repair in that the crossguard had been bent on each end. That was easy enough. And then disassembly, a good polish and then reassembly. Needless to say it looks tons better now than it did when I got it. I'm not sure of the manufacturer as I have no guide on the makers marks used. Not even sure there is one floating around out there.

Hi all, Here's my Bulgarian army officers dagger. It varies from the Soviet in a few ways. One is the insignias on the upper part of the scabbard. The second is the background on the cap star is pock marked. Third is the grips are a lighter almost ivory color. Fourth is that the blade is not marked. Not sure if that was a standard or not. Also, unlike the Soviet Navy daggers at least, there is no catch which keeps the blade from coming out unless you press a button. Also there is a brass strip running along each side of the grip. And there is no leather on the scabbard. Last but not least, the hanger is a chain with clip similar to the WWII 1st pattern Luftwaffe dagger. Also, on the cap piece just below the cap star, there is no state shield as on Soviet daggers. Dan