Alcoso Bayonet Question

**Jetthead** · 09-27-2018, 06:06 PM

Hey guys my parents were doing a purge of unwanted stuff and came across this bayonet. I knew it was German when I saw the maker mark. I was wondering if this is a dress bayonet since it has this circular piece which I have circled in a photo. I seen other daggers on Lakesidetrader with the same piece. I'm thinking this might be an earlier bayonet since the Alcoso mark matches an example in my Wehrmacht dagger reference book. Can someone please tell me if this is an early dress bayonet? Any comments I would be thankful for.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 09-27-2018 06:06 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**CBH** · 09-27-2018, 06:21 PM

Looks like a nice clean example of a TR Dress bayonet.
I'm sure other members will add more information.

**Frogprince** · 09-27-2018, 08:17 PM

I think that it may depend on what you consider 'early'. If that is zinc exposed from underneath the plating in the crossguard photo that creates a range of dates that I think could be argued depending on multiple factors like period documentation and some different datable examples. Versus the presence of a locking mechanism which were generally just for appearance. Best Regards, Fred

**Jetthead** · 09-27-2018, 08:25 PM

by Frogprince

I think that may depend on what you consider 'early'. If that is zinc exposed from underneath the plating in the crossguard photo that creates a range of dates that I think could be argued depending on multiple factors like period documentation and some different datable examples. Best Regards, Fred

I was talking mainly of the maker mark being earlier which makes me think the bayonet itself might be an early one.

**Anderson** · 09-28-2018, 01:29 AM

It's a nice genuine KS98 by Alcoso. As for date, we can say with confidence it must have been made after 1936 when the Alexander Coppel company was "aryanized", from 1937 the name "Alcoso" was introduced. That's probably the closest you can get to pinning down a manufacturing date. Somewhere between 1937 and 1941 when they introduced a "AWS" Trademark. The release button is standard.

**Frogprince** · 09-28-2018, 07:57 PM

Given the fact that the hilt seems to be made of zinc - IMO also that's in the range for a reasonable time frame for this dress bayonet. Best Regards, Fred