SS High Leader Prototype Dagger - Anyone Ever Encountered One Before? Oldtimers?

[Notaguru]

There's not enough beer in the world for me to do them again.

[cogwheel]

Here is one that belongs to a friend of mine.

[cogwheel]

Ricasso - reverse

[damasco]

I hope I'm not missing nothing here but, You guys know that the last dagger pictured is postwar manufacture..

[cogwheel]

The owner, a friend of mine, knows it is not pre-45 because thats what the former owner told him. But how do you know?
I once had a chance to buy one like it some years ago and I kick myself today that I waffled. It certainly would qualify as a great collectors piece.

[cogwheel]

Notaguru: Thats really too bad because there haven't been any great pictures of such tasteful and artistic theme displays ever. I have to admit that some of my display arrangements that I submit for postings are often times plagiarized from your calendars.

[Notaguru]

I don't want to sidetrack this thread but I would never publish them again. Selling enough to cover printing and shipping costs is about as much fun as a root canal. Collectors just wouldn't spend $8.95 for them. Every single item in every calendar was labeled as fake by one "Aisle Expert" or another. It was fun at times, I was able to see some fabulous collections but I'm out of it for good.
Now I sit on the sidelines and watch others get ripped to shreds. I have a new passion to occupy my time, check out our Facebook page.
Brian Rich
Facebook.com/agratefulnation

[damasco]

The owner, a friend of mine, knows it is not pre-45 because thats what the former owner told him. But how do you know?
I once had a chance to buy one like it some years ago and I kick myself today that I waffled. It certainly would qualify as a great collectors piece.

How do I know? Well, to a collector of damascus it is very easy to tell that the blade (on the dagger cogwheel posted #62 #63) was made after 1945. Matter of fact the main problem with the blade is covered in a book written by Manfred Sachse in Germany called (Damascus Steel) it is in English always for sale on e-bay. Manfred personally knew Paul Muller . These postwar daggers and swords that Mueller and Robert Kurten made to me are curiosities and should be valued that way (my opinion only)

[David Guist]

One thing I would like to add is you cant always believe what you read.Not saying these are real or not real. Just that opinion may be diffrent from one person to anothere.

[damasco]

Unbelievable, ignorance is bliss Read the thread..The way the blade is marked is a well known postwar mark..... This mark and others like it are postwar and have been known to educated collectors for years.

[Colorado]

This thread is like Lazarus. And yes, I am sure I sold my dagger after I was deluged with offers when the thread started 3 years ago. The owner knows I would gladly take it back at the same price.

All - Thank you for the lively discussion, but don't get too personal I would hate to see a discussion that I have learned so much from stopped by the MOD's.

[damasco]

Jeff, My comments are about the pictures posted (numbers 62 and 63 only...)

[cogwheel]

damasco: My friend bought this dagger not out of ignorance but because he liked it. He was aware that it was postwar but he still bought it. If I had the opportunity to buy one and the price is right I would buy one, too. It is certainly a piece of art and, thus, a collectible. And the bliss in this case is not because of ignorance but having a nice collectible.

[damasco]

Cogwheel : Sorry for the confusion. ( Yes I understand he knew it was postwar) My post #70 was in response to post #69 Regards:
P.S. And yes I do buy postwar damascus but I pay what I call (curiosity) price for it.

[JoeW]

Joe,

What was the year of the German edition of Heinz Hoehne's "The Order of the Death's Head" in which you found an illustration of the Mueller prototype? I have the first English edition published 1969 (from the German first of 1967) and the dagger is not illustrated. Just wondering when it got to be pictured in this serious and prestigious work on the SS. Hard to scan as it was on the left hand side of the right page.

Barry

Barry, here is the photo of the Atwood dagger from amongst the 14 pages of photos in another German edition. The one I looked at in a local libary was the one I mentioned above. This one I just bought through the online book dealer is a licensed printing for Magnus Verlag by Verlagsgruppe Bertelsmann GmbH.