Portapee Question? Please look.

[AZartman]

"The portepee is post-1945 manufactured by a wartime manufacturer..."

Can someone explain what this might imply other then the obvious...were these manufactured well after the war? And if so how does this impact value? Are these even worth picking up?

Thanks

Alex

[Billy G]

I don't know that early post war or late post war would make much of a difference in value, post war is still post war and as such, not desireable by many collectors. That said, there is still a market for some post war knots, usually the rare ones like Bahnschutz, Postschutz and DRK knots.

I don't know about price and how it would be affected by either early or late post war, but I know there is still a market for post war knots. Tom Johnson sells some that are stated to be post war assembled from wartime supply materials. I suppose many people use them as a filler until such tim as they can locate a reasonably priced original. I myself would rather do without one than have a more recently fabricated one, but I'm only speaking for myself.

[Skipper Greenwade]

Billy is correct - they are acceptable substitutes for the rarer knots (many of which can cost more than some of the mor common daggers). They look okay as display pieces, but won't normally fool anyone with respect to originality.

Hope that helps,
Skip

[Glenn Barbaritz]

can someone please post a pic of a post war Heer dagger portepee or atleast give a few telltale signs of them. I would appreciate it so I know what not to purchase. Glenn

[Skipper Greenwade]

can someone please post a pic of a post war Heer dagger portepee or atleast give a few telltale signs of them. I would appreciate it so I know what not to purchase. Glenn

My experience has been that the post-war knots usually have a slightly thicker cord (larger in diameter) and if you carefully separate the strands of vertical cord on the ball of the portepee, the underlying white material will light up under a black light. Generally they are overall new looking, but I'm sure by now a few of the more unscrupulous types have figured out a way to age them.

Hope that helps,
Skip

[lakesidetrader]

Another sign of a period port is that many have the bullion on the ball flattened. Often the newer ones appear to have the bullion stiicking up giving the knot a coarser look.

[daggers]

Skip, the portepee of the army officers dagger which has been worn by my father itself during the period together with this certain portepee does have a remarkable thick cord.
lakesidetrader, the flattening mentioned only does appear on worn portepees. Unissued ones do not have this effect.