Army Dagger with Galalith Grip by H. Kolping

German WWII > Edged Weapons > Army Daggers >

Here's an interesting example of a completely correct and matching Army by a rare maker. The blade has some stains the worse of which are in the mid-section. It looks like someone tried to clean these so you can see some pitting if you look right close. The crossgrain is visible throughout, it retains a solid fit and ends at a perfect tip. Now look at that maker mark. See how far down the blade it is? There was considerable debate about the mark placement on Army daggers a few years ago on the forums. The conclusion was that often times makers placed their trademarks so far south on the blades so they could be clearly seen from the obverse unobstructed by the swas. A bit of a marketing ploy you might say. So no, the manufacturing mark was not always placed to the reverse. Close examination of some period advert's will show this. The blade rates Exc/Exc+. The leather buffer remains intact. The dent-free later period screwless generic scabbard is steel based with great plating and nice black background burnish. It provides good detail with the random pebbling throughout. The type B generic crossguard is the type normally found on Kopling's. It's alloy based and is well detailed while remaining free of plating lifting! All the components show matching patina. The grip utilizes a new type material made from an organic product, milk. This was used for a short time by a few producers seeking an alternative to oil based trylon grips as materials were diverted to the war effort later in production. galalith was soon abandon in favor of celluloid over wood or celluloid over plaster grips. I digress, the grip on this one is perfectly damage-free. Finally, this comes with the portepee it arrived with. A correct and fine looking later period example.