Value of German Daggers? - The Firearms Forum

Rusty Dusty · 04-04-2012, 02:43 PM

Any experts on German chained daggers about? Once again, I find myself doing the research for a friend on the value of some anitque stuff they dug up
I think I have these correctly identified, I hope, I just don't have an accurate value range for them.
The first I believe is a First Pattern Luftwaffe Dagger w/o its scabbard. It is in less than perfect shape. The is some surface rust on the blade, the plating on the hilt is worn through on the corners and the wire wrap is loose near the pommel. The brass Swastikas are tarnished a dark color. There are a couple of scrapes along the blade, they look to be from putting it in a scabbard as opposed to an attempt at sharpening. It was manufactured by WKC.

The second I believe is a Land Customs Dagger, also not primo condition unfortunately. It does have the scabbard and hanger though. The leather is missing from the scabbard and replaced by surface rust. The leather wrapped handle has a couple places worn through. The hilt and pommel are aluminum. The blade also show some slight surface rust. On the blade, under the hilt is some stamping that I cannot make out (my eyes should not be this bad at 42!). The hanger is in nice shape, not perfect. It is green and silver in color. The overall length in the scabbard is 41 cm.

Rusty Dusty · 04-04-2012, 03:04 PM

Here some photos of the Land Customs Dagger.

Jim K · 04-04-2012, 04:35 PM

W.K.C. is Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Co., still very much in business in Solingen. Beyond that, all I know for sure about German daggers is that an awful lot of them are fake. I think you need a specialist in that area; maybe one can be found here, but this is primarily a gun site. (FWIW, that WKC trademark doesn't look quite like others I have seen, but they may well have used more than one stamp.)

Jim

stede · 04-04-2012, 06:04 PM

WKC used quite a few stamps; that one is the Kirschbaum Knight's Head. Both daggers look legit to me but in that condition really aren't worth much- except maybe for replacement parts. Too bad- those Customs daggers are scarce.
I've been out of the dagger field too long to have a reasonable idea of value, though. Post this on germandaggers.com for the real scoop...

Rusty Dusty · 04-04-2012, 06:19 PM

Thanks for the input. I'm not experienced with these things so it's all new to me. There does seem to be a whole lot of fakes out there. There are a whole lot of sites just for buying these things too. I was hoping for an expert to steer me in the right direction to avoid some of the, well lets just say less-than-desirable places. So it's off to Germandaggers.com.

04-04-2012, 02:43 PM	#1
Rusty Dusty Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 49	Value of German Daggers? Any experts on German chained daggers about? Once again, I find myself doing the research for a friend on the value of some anitque stuff they dug up I think I have these correctly identified, I hope, I just don't have an accurate value range for them. The first I believe is a First Pattern Luftwaffe Dagger w/o its scabbard. It is in less than perfect shape. The is some surface rust on the blade, the plating on the hilt is worn through on the corners and the wire wrap is loose near the pommel. The brass Swastikas are tarnished a dark color. There are a couple of scrapes along the blade, they look to be from putting it in a scabbard as opposed to an attempt at sharpening. It was manufactured by WKC. The second I believe is a Land Customs Dagger, also not primo condition unfortunately. It does have the scabbard and hanger though. The leather is missing from the scabbard and replaced by surface rust. The leather wrapped handle has a couple places worn through. The hilt and pommel are aluminum. The blade also show some slight surface rust. On the blade, under the hilt is some stamping that I cannot make out (my eyes should not be this bad at 42!). The hanger is in nice shape, not perfect. It is green and silver in color. The overall length in the scabbard is 41 cm. -->

04-04-2012, 03:04 PM	#2
Rusty Dusty Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 49	Re: Value of German Daggers? Here some photos of the Land Customs Dagger.

04-04-2012, 04:35 PM	#3
Jim K Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 6,408	Re: Value of German Daggers? W.K.C. is Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Co., still very much in business in Solingen. Beyond that, all I know for sure about German daggers is that an awful lot of them are fake. I think you need a specialist in that area; maybe one can be found here, but this is primarily a gun site. (FWIW, that WKC trademark doesn't look quite like others I have seen, but they may well have used more than one stamp.) Jim

04-04-2012, 06:04 PM	#4
stede V.I.P. Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 92	Re: Value of German Daggers? WKC used quite a few stamps; that one is the Kirschbaum Knight's Head. Both daggers look legit to me but in that condition really aren't worth much- except maybe for replacement parts. Too bad- those Customs daggers are scarce. I've been out of the dagger field too long to have a reasonable idea of value, though. Post this on germandaggers.com for the real scoop... Last edited by stede; 04-04-2012 at 06:06 PM..

04-04-2012, 06:19 PM	#5
Rusty Dusty Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 49	Re: Value of German Daggers? Thanks for the input. I'm not experienced with these things so it's all new to me. There does seem to be a whole lot of fakes out there. There are a whole lot of sites just for buying these things too. I was hoping for an expert to steer me in the right direction to avoid some of the, well lets just say less-than-desirable places. So it's off to Germandaggers.com.