Hitler Youth Dagger
Well I think it has been settled ,a good looking fake.I still want to here from Ade then it really be final.
Well I think it has been settled ,a good looking fake.I still want to here from Ade then it really be final.
operaman, I agree with you ... Gd Forum say it is false andoperaman, as far as I'm aware no accepted examples of the so-called 'Japanese delegation' daggers have ever surfaced. If I remember correctly, Tom Johnson featured a similar dagger with provenance that he featured in one of his volumes, however the one he showed had the correct Horster configuration with the correct tapered grip and right facing locket eagle. He described this example as a prototype, and as far as I know is the only 'accepted' version to surface, which is quite different to this one shown.
The example shown in this thread conforms to known reproductions. The most obvious red flags are the angular grip and the full-frontal eagle. This in itself is condemning as the manufacturers of these copied did not execut the HJ Eagle emblem correctly. If you compare the locket eagles on both manufacturers of these daggers, namely Horster and Eickhorn, you will note the correct use of the HJ emblem, different to the example shown here.
This repro type also features in Frederick Stephens Reproduction? Recognition! the key reference work in reproduction TR edged weapons. Also, the dedication on the blade makes little sense in the context of an honour dagger 'For loyal service in the German Youth'
I have personally encountered two variants of this reproduction, the one I believe was German made which had a magnetic scabbard, the Spanish copy had a non-ferrous scabbard which was die cast.
If these were period and original they would very rare and certainly not encountered on on-line auctions etc., not to mention they are fairly plentiful...
Red
Please if you can put better photos ... as what you show here such as the eagle does not have the hojo ... no manufacturer is brandBeing new to this Forum, I hate being the bearer of bad news but this particular HJ Leader 'variant' is a well know reproduction. These were early Spanish made repros and were fairly well made. There are several errors including the spead-eagled bird on the locket and the wrong ferrule style for a Horster manufactured dagger, angular grip, not to mention the one-piece scabbard. These come up sometimes on sites like eBay and Gunbroker etc. and are often offered as period, unfortunately they are well know copies. There were several version available for these copies including a guilded variation, also offered today as some rare kind on honour version. Here is a couple of images of accepted fakes.
IMHO, sorry, Red