Agreed-it looks like a nice original Holler Army that has been buffed up a wee bit too much, giving it an almost artificial and inappropriate shine to the silver parts. But it is still nothing to kick out of bed...
Agreed-it looks like a nice original Holler Army that has been buffed up a wee bit too much, giving it an almost artificial and inappropriate shine to the silver parts. But it is still nothing to kick out of bed...
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
You could try putting the over polished parts in a ziplock bag along with the yolk of a HARD BOILED egg. I've heard that this will knock the shine back to a varying degree depending on how long it's left, so probably best to keep an eye on it. I don't think the two are supposed to touch at any rate. It's apparently got something to do with the slight sulphuric gas given off by the yolk that dulls the shine. Worth a try perhaps?
'I do not think we can hope for any better thing now.
We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course, and the end cannot be far.
It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more. R. SCOTT.
Last Entry - For God's sake look after our people.'
In memory of Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans. South Pole Expedition, 30th March 1912.
I like it.
Even tho it might have been cleaned I still think its a beautiful piece.
I love the details on the crossguard eagle.
Cheers,
Jonas
I would rather have a Cleaned all period fitting dagger than a parted one..anyday!!
One total aspect of the dagger is........ No amount of cleaning will ever erase the history it represented. A destroyed taken apart and abused dagger becomes a "Once was Heer dagger" End of story
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!!
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
While I think that any destructive things that are going on should be stopped, I'm inclined to go with Vedran. With a case in point being an SA that was discussed elsewhere a while back that had been heavily cleaned. Said dagger having a "punch" style of inscription. Which the prospective purchaser took to a well known authority figure for authentication, who pronounced it OK. With the problems being that: 1) It looked like it was done the day before with nothing that I could see that indicated age. 2) A fairly knowledgeable in daggers native German speaker said that the use of the German language was wrong, and that he was under the impression that the 'authority figure' in question did not actually speak German. 3) I did some checking of my own, and the native German speaker was 100% correct. 4) And in addition the 'Gau' mark was for someplace else other than the inscription. And there is a little more to the story, but I was not there and would have to rely on what was said. With my point being that it has not been uncommon in my experience to see "cleaning" used as a camouflage for parts changing and other kinds of fooling around. Whereas with the natural patination of decades I'm a lot more comfortable that an item is a genuine period piece. Best Regards, Fred
I go to work for a few hours and this thread really took off. Thanks for the info everyone. I guess the real question is... Should I pay the equivalent of $350 USD for it? Basically we have agreed upon on a $200 cash deal plus another $300ish in trade that I have about $150 in.
My personal opinion is that it's TOO clean. Artificially clean, which hurts its street cred in my book. That being said, it's all original and for the right price, I want it.
Given the opportunity arose, to receive as a gift, a choice of between 2.
A cleaned dagger or a handful of denazified bits an pieces?.....I also like to have a period all natural patina dagger...and many collectors would..which I also agree with Vedran...no doubt...and of course..it must be right. Everything must be examined with an open mind..or at face value.Best Larry
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!!
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
Larry Great quote ! My preference is a coal black uncleaned heer and always will be - While I don’t relish a cleaned dagger some pieces we have to accept in the state they are found. I have more than a few heers that have suffered a cleaning by a previous owner but they are still desirable and worthy of a collection some named and researchable hardly destroyed history but quite the opposite a piece that has survived its journey intact and should be respected as such. So Vedran let’s quit beating that - cleaned destroyed - horse and concentrate on some more important aspects.by Larry C
I like your strict anti-cleaning fanaticism, rancid66. And you're right as to the indisputable higher value of an original surface. As a numismatist, where cleaning can literally reduce a coins value by thousands of dollars if done badly, I'm versed in this field. An etched maker's mark, as on this fine dagger, must never be sanded, even with the finest (600+) sandpaper. Yet there have been cases when fine steel wool or a bit of silver polish improves or enhances a piece by restoring it to its original state. (Like on a stamped maker's mark that is illegible from partial covering) The bright silver on the guard of this dagger is a bit TOO bright, OK, but that's how it looked when made. Perhaps it was polished because it had an UGLY, unnatural, aging flaw.
This dagger is very attractive indeed.
I'm sorry, but when I see cleaned dagger, it will always say that fact.
Excessive cleaned daggers are destroyed for me, and always will be.
My money, my choice.
The other person will always say honest opinion about someone dagger.
Regards
Vedran
Last edited by Rancid66; 04-02-2014 at 12:09 PM.
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