TENO Model 1938 EM/NCO Dagger

[Serge M.]

serge so dagger is period But has been messed with correct ?

That's what I see. I see the crossguard edge plating all missing. All the sharp edges of the eagle rounded. To me, it looks like the dagger faced a buffer wheel, because that's what I see. A original TeNo hewer, destroyed due to extreme polishing.

In the old days, some guys used to take a buffer wheel to a dagger, as they thought the burnishing was dirt and they thought they would 'bring them back to factory new'.
This one, due to the shine, was 'messed-with' in recent times.

-JMO, others may think different.

-Serge

[Frogprince]

Not in hand - in agreement with the extra heavy handed polishing if I had to make a guess it's that this example was very heavily corroded and that it was sent at some point to someplace like an automobile bumper repair shop to be polished and plated - that being the skill (?) level of this "restoration" . Of course nobody it seems was aware that the corrosion was still taking place. And when the new plating started falling off those parts of it missing the plating were polished as brightly as possible. But eventually they will be matte gray looking. FP

[GaryMJ]

I have little doubt that this was heavily polished on a buffing wheel as described by Serge & FP. I was offered a late Heer which had been destroyed in a similar way, and to my surprize the zinc was polished to a bright shine, looked like new plating, within a month it had started returning to dull grey.

The fittings and hilt all show aggressive & recent polishing, but look at the rest of the details; the blade, buffer pad, etch & stampings and you should have little doubt that is a period Hewer, but basically worthless.

JMO, Gary