SA High Leader Dagger by Eickhorn

[Larry C]

Not Misguided Ned at all...these are the first thing we look for when collecting...and what mostly has to be accepted is the span of years that has affected this dagger in some ways. IMO I feel most can be said about the hand chasing of the crossguards..as this was not just a stamped out part commonly seen with Em. daggers. The upper guard looks to be more hand molded because of the oak leaves. Still IMO a high quality item. I can not comment on the grip itself as again grip shrinkage and the hand crafted guards come into play of a near perfect fit. Regards Larry

[mauser9]

Now that is a beauty. Many thanks for showing

[Pryo]

First priceless item ive seen on here. Im almost upset you own this and i don't. But congratz on a awesome collection

[Eric Zentner]

Welcome to the forum Pryo but you can buy this if you want as said in the first words of this thread.........Currently for sale on Lakesidetrader German WWII Daggers & Medals and who is one of the WRFs esteemed forum sponsers....

Eric

[maximus71]

I'm hard.

[gerrit]

Im not seeing such a great piece like the rest seems to do.
Im with Ned all the way, i think its a terrible fit for a Honour/presentation dagger.
And to be honest, its nothing compared to the chained honour dagger i saw (from a Dutch collector).
The dagger of the chained is exactly the same as this one here, but didnt show a gap anywhere.
Its overall look was way different then this one.
Look at the last 5 SA daggers i posted, all so much better fitted as this one, and they are just normal daggers.
It isnt all gold that shines Gents.....

IMO at its best its a parts dagger.

Cheers,
Ger

[Wagriff]

The restoration on this dagger is listed as the sheath being releathered and the blade reworked to remove pitting. There is, however, no mention of any work having been done on the grip wood. True, the grip fit is not 100% perfect, but one needs to keep in mind that this dagger was not kept in perfect conditions but rather was in horrid enough environment to actually do considerable Pitting to the Damascus steel blade, so it can only be imagined the effect of such an environment on the Wood. What would the many perfect fit wood grips that we've seen here in the last several months look like if they've been stored in a damp and hostile setting enough to pit up Their blades?

The Seller of this dagger is Paul Hogle of Lakesidetrader and is a considerable expert in edged weapons-not to mention a site Sponsor here as well. I can't speak for anyone else, but I know that I have yet to hear anything derogatory at all about Paul or his items for sale, nor have I heard question of his knowledge and expertise. This is not one of the usual thieves who post a Chinese made dagger and claim it was "just found yesterday in the attic of an abandoned old house in Poland". If it Had been-yes, you can be certain that it would have been quickly pointed at and questioned more closely. In rare instances, it does, indeed,make a great deal of difference who has it.

Opinions are, of course, for each person to formulate on their own. Uncalled for personal attacks are another matter altogether and shows the lack of dignity on the part of the accuser and should have no place here on this Forum. We come here to both learn from and to help others in our hobby. Whether a person personally likes or dislikes another here, let's keep it clean, guys.

As for the dagger in question.....if I had 40 Grand to spare, I doubt if I would Still buy it,(I'm sure that I can find plenty of dreary every day "necessities" to fritter it away on instead) but I absolutely still consider it a beautiful piece and can only wonder to whom it must have been owned by. I Do admit being puzzled as to why the Guards were not cast from solid silver as well...? I can't imagine for a minute that it was intended to be daily Carried, so silver being soft and all wouldn't have really mattered- heck, they could be made of solid Gold for all that should matter. This piece was made for quality and to impress, so why didn't they simply go the rest of the 9 yards and do it right? Small mysteries....they're what keep this hobby interesting!

[greimers]

Were honor dagger cross-guards always cast in silver ?

[Larry C]

Gentlemen..although I have not had my coffee yet..I have read an eyeful that would cause Juan Valdez the coffee grower to lose money today. Let me first stop an future attempts of any "Character assassination " as the reason this dagger was posted was not to attack the integrity of the seller. In my opening post..the description of this dagger had already been stipulated that the dagger is not 100% perfect and some rework had been done. If anyone feels my comment is off base regarding character assassination,,and no one was implying it..thats fine,,,but as a reminder....not to go in that direction.

As far as the dagger is concerned...these run far more higher than what is being offered..this will not become the ring to engage about pricing. No lies were being told,,, and the dagger is being offered as such.
If at best it would be encouraging to see if one of the our many members who are just reading this now or about to read this thread would be able to supply some photos of another High leader example.
Another such example to be seen if anyone has Tom Johnsons photo reference "German Daggers of World War II...pg 290 shows another example of the same dagger...with slight grip shrinkage also. This book I currently speak of is presently being offered for sale in our classifieds section. It would make a great addition to anyones library especially when it brings to question high end examples.

I am sure what this dagger looked like before it was rescued ...probably does not compare to what it is now.....which Gerrit is correct...but it is still a High leader dagger..no matter how it is shaped. This dagger is what it is and has been described as such..and nothing is hidden...or I would of not received permission to "do", post this dagger...if there was any reservations about the authenticity of it.
This dagger in my opinion is still a worth while study and the comments made so far are towards the dagger...which is fine. For everyone of our members if need be I will do my best to protect everyones integrity if warranted. I made that mistake a few times in the beginning of my tenure and have learned from it,,but I wont let it happen again. This thread is open to other photographic examples and I invite all comments and photos as long as it remains within the guidelines of the topic and not any person who owns or is selling it.
William points out the truth as this dagger is not coming from a "Hack House" from another country....nor is the person who is selling it. Regards Larry

Correction on Johnsons Reference book...already sold and a good investment

[stuka f]

No "wow" feeling here ... rather question marks. But, hey ;that is just me.
;-)
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