Some Info needed for Bayonet

[Robert P.]

Greetings.

This here is my first piece of edged weaponry from WWII, I mostly have medals. I looked around the forum for a bit and found a few links that helped me out. However, I can't seem to find much info in the way of production numbers or what some of the numbers mean for this particular bayonet.

It is in what I would call very very good condition, but I am far from an exprt here. The leather is in very good condition as well, with only slight corrosion on one of the rivets. Let me give you some more info and (very poor) pictures to elaborate.


First, I found the manufacturer here



The page reveals that this is a Weyersberg, Kirschbaum und Cie bayonet. Sounds good to me.

Now here, on the spine I find a number '40'.



I see that in 1940 this manufacturer switched from using WKC on the bayos to cvl. I also see from that page that WKC/cvl in 1940, had a 'range' from 'a - 5670 m'. I assume this means a-1000, a-1001 etc until a-9999 then they roll over to b? Either way, something is odd in that this one here is numbered 1678 with a cursive 'y' below it. This is different when juxtaposed to others I have seen on the boards. does this mean a piece manufactured relatively early in 1940?



Now this is what I have come to find is an inspection stamp? I cant really make out the design within the 3 horizontal lines, but the characters read WaA253.





Anything you might want to say would be useful. I am just trying to get a handle on exactly what it is, and perhaps its relative value as well.

I'd be happy to take more pics if you want, especially if anyone has questions or want to see more, but unfortunately they'll be the same quality.

Hope someone can be of assistance. Thanks.

-R.

[AndyB]

WKC 40

Hello Robert P., i am the editor of the mentioned estimate file, unfortunally it was not updated for a longer time, but thanks to Your detailed description i can say followed:
Your piece is normal german 98k bayonet WKC,from 1940 production , but the letter of series under sn is not y , like You mentioned but g,while we have had many problems by deshifere this by more items on BCN forum, they by WKC used extra sutterlin fonts (can found this font on older sleeve SS banners) and by determining of series letter is important the acceptance proof with stylised eagle stamp WaA253, that was used only to end of letter g, later was applied WaA883 that continued with change of WKC to cvl code.
Sorry but Your pictures are not avialable. Best regards,Andy from BCN

[Robert P.]

Re: WKC 40

Originally posted by AndyB

Sorry but Your pictures are not avialable. Best regards,Andy from BCN

Thank you very much for tyhe information Andy. I am very sorry the images arent showing for you, they show up fine for me. I just asked a friend to view the page as well and he is able to see them too.


I guess that I payed way too much for this bayonet, perhaps because of its immaculate condition. Strange, as the seller is quite reputable, I know not what made it more expensive than the 'usual' price. Oh well, sometimes you get burned.

Thanks again Andy.

-R.

[Skipper Greenwade]

Hi Robert,

I am also just getting the "white boxes with red X's" instead of the photographs. Although I didn't see how much you paid for your bayonet in your posts, don't be so quick to assume you overpaid. The service 98k bayonets in really nice condition can be as much as twice the price of one in average condition.

I have two - one very early and the other very late - and paid well over $150.00 for each one several years ago. I have not been able to find another example in the same condition since, but if I was still in the market for one, I wouldn't think $250.00 or more would be out of line for one with a like-conditioned frog.

Hope that helps!
Skip

[Robert P.]

Hi Skipper.


Very very strange regarding these images...

What I have done is to host them on another forum where members are givem 20MB server space. There is an upload section expressly for putting up images to display, and also other files for people to DL from your forum posts. I can't seem to figure it out.

If anyone cares to take a look, I can email them. Just put your addy down.

Anyway, thank you for the thoughts regarding price. I cannot imagine the guy who sold it tome would be dishonorable in any way. I have recieved nothing but genuine pieces (medals) from him, and everything is always top shelf.

Like I said, the bayo, scabbard and frog are all in immaculate condition. I watched several people at the show I bought it at pick up the set and let out an audible expression of approval. Many commented on how nice it looked for a '40.

Personally, I figured the early war year would be its best feature, in tandem with the good condition.

I showed the pictures (which are horrible webcam captures) along with my first posts' questions to a collector on the net... His reply was: "German WWII bayonet. $125."

Either way, I am more of a medal collector anyway. This is a nice little addition, certainly cheaper than some of the daggers I've seen at shows! Heh.

-R