Heer Officer's Sword - Assistance Needed

[Rylan]

Hello everyone,

Swords are not something I collect yet, and I really do not know much about them at all. But I found this priced at $550 for sale on a non-militaria website.

I would like to know what this is worth and maybe if it is authentic, the pictures suck so I will be getting more for sure. If this is generally what they are worth I might just leave it be, but when I see good deals I buy them to trade or sell.

What would the general value of something like this be? I don't think heer swords are very valuable but for $550, is this a good deal? Here are the pictures I have. let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[dblmed]

In the Ball Park.... Yes...

Yes, you are in the Ball Park for this type of Heer Sword - a Lion's Head.

But, as you a said "......Photos are Sub Par...", so we really can't tell that much about it other than a generalization.

Scabbard is a (-) as it has excessive wear + a 'train door' bump in the lower 1/3rd. This knocks down the ultimate valuation some.

The Maker, Model & CONDITION ..... determine the Price. ..... Txs, Dave/dblmed

[Skipper Greenwade]

Looks a little rough for the price...note the dent in the scabbard and the +/- 60% paint.

Certainly not a "good deal". I'd pass on this one.

Skip

[Rylan]

First I have to say thanks for getting back to me quickly, I forgot to post the seller's item description so here it is:

COLLECTORS! offered is an original F.W.Holler maker marked WW2 German Officers Sword and Scabbard - Ruby Eyed Lion's Head - Aluminum Hilt with Gold Wash Varient. Perfect Wire Wrapped Handle. Very nice unsharpened blade- Still Bright. Black Painted Scabbard. Overall Very Good Condition - Much nicer than the 'abundant by comparison' dove tailed varients - almost 70 years old!! SERIOUS OFFERS ONLY.

I agree about the scabbard, it is VERY rough. If I were to buy this I would pretty much just pay for the sword and have the scabbard as an extra, because I doubt it condtributes much to the value. He said he was open to offers, but who knows how much he can move the price on this sword. Do you figure it is even worth it for me to ask for more photos?

[SwordFish]

I concur with Skip. That's a bit on the steep side for a saber in that condition. Common model as well. Unless you absolutely need that saber as the cornerstone of complete a collection, I'd hold out for a bit less.

T

[SwordFish]

I should also elaborate just a tiny bit. True, the demand for army sabers is less than thier dagger counterparts. That being said, demand has risen over that last few years. Consequently, so have prices. Not exponentially, but steadily. If you budget $600, you should be able to get a very minty sword, on the forums. Houston C had a screamer on GDC recently that was listed at an excellent price. It was a hard to find example that sold in about 15 minutes. Because of the 200+ army saber models, you need to pick one that fits both your tast and budget. As a collector who just wants one or two for display, you'd have more latitude. Since army sabers are my primary collecting interests, I need to be more discerning and choose my purchases wisely. Again, both the waf estand and gdc will render wonderful examples that are for sale at excellent prices. I've watched silly bidding wares on eBay that jacked up a price, well beyond what the actual value is. Buy from a fellow collector or a dealer. You'll be glad you did.

Good luck and welcome to the sword collecting community. You really get alot of bang for your buck with sabers. They were very labor intensive to create, generally speaking.

T

Thats actually kinda' an interesting example. Looks to be aluminum hilted Holler with brass grip wire. Still, based on the big picture, $550 is still a bit much.

One more point I should add. I believe there are more than the number of configurations thought to exist. Clearly there are some very odd examples out there. Im in the midst of a very strange C&J army saber purchase that a fellow collector vet dug up. It's a nice clean one as well. Ill post 'er when I get 'er.