Dagger Help Please!!

[Dean Brock]

Hello,
This belongs to a fellow I work with. He says its been his family for awhile and asked me to help identify it. I haven't been able to locate a similar looking piece to compare it to. Is it a repro fantasy piece? Any help would be greatly appreciated..
thanks Dean

[Dean Brock]

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[Dean Brock]

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[Dean Brock]

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[Dean Brock]

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[Dean Brock]

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[Dean Brock]

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[Dean Brock]

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[Larry Lipps]

It appears that it was at one point an RLB leader's dagger. The crossguards have been bent and the grip is missing, but looks like it is what it was. A shame because a complete dagger even in this condition sells for about 3K.

[Billy G]

Dean,

The dagger itself looks to be an RLB 2nd model officer's dagger with a bent crossguard & missing it's grip. The scabbard looks to be from an Enlisted Man's dagger so it would be a mismatch. Also of note, the hanger strap looks to be plastic which would be a likely postwar replacement although the hanger clip looks original.

The blade tang has a Carl August Hartkopf (CAH) foundry mark which indicates who forged the blade but the maker mark on the blade doesn't seem to be there. It might have been polished off by the vet or a subsequent collector.

While the piece might have some value, I'd venture it wouldn't be a lot because of the overall relic condition of the dagger as a whole.

Hope this helps.

[evilmike]

the plastic hanger is very similar style too what we rarely see on very late HJ knives... could well be original, leather shortages etc

[Billy G]

Mike,

Initially I thought of the plastic HJ straps too but I've never seen one on an RLB nor read anything about such straps in any of the references. I know never say never but I'd say it's a replacement from picture 7 which shows a connector plate that's somewhat obscured but looks to have larger than normal screws holding the strap in instead of the very small period rivets. The scabbard is definitely from an EM dagger so it's possible the dagger & scabbard pieces were mated postwar.


Dean,

Can you give us a better shot of the connecting plate in pic 7? Thanks!