Generals Heer dagger???

[Nikolaus]

very interesting, thanks for all comments.
I show the dagger a friend of mine and he also think that the hangar brass is .
Back to my first question, must a General stuff dagger gilded or is this "only" a very early dagger.
Nikolaus

[Frogprince]

Whatever guys want to believe (or not believe) is fine with me. With the only thing that I would ask of anyone contemplating paying a premium for a “gold - generals” dagger or hangers is that they study the pictures posted in both threads, and read the commentaries, to see what makes the most sense to them. Zinc chromate paint has been around for a very long time and was used extensively in U.S. WW II aircraft, but it should not be confused with the industrial type finish with the same name. And here is a link to a contemporary zinc plated piece of hardware that has a gold or golden colored exterior finish.

Grade 9 Yellow Chromate Alloy Steel Hex Bolt,7/16"-20,4" Length (Pack of 5): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

With another factor that I think that should be taken into consideration being that the way companies do things now is not always the the same as in the past. As certain chemicals and processes are now considered carcinogenic, environmentally unfriendly, more expensive than newer processes (etc.). With the commercial/industrial application of zinc chromate not being always done the same way as it was “back in the day”, and period processes in Germany that were not always done the exact same way as they were in the U.S. or the UK. And if the pictures in the two links are looked at closely - in amongst the examples of zinc chromate you can see that some are actually (postwar) gold plating. (Gold that is alloyed with other metals can be found in different shades, but when you look at the percentages it’s still basically gold.) With what I have said in various and sundry threads being that my comments were only directed at the zinc based (or zinc plated) components - that usually still have some traces of a zinc or a zinc plated base layer with or without a zinc phosphate finish hidden in the recesses or protected areas.

PS: Sometimes what seemed to be a good idea at the time does not always work out over the long term. With many decades later some technical discussions in the corrosion control/metals protection industry that the bonding between zinc phosphate on top and zinc chromate underneath is very “iffy” with a high failure rate even at this late date. But that there is a relatively narrow window of specific (pre) conditions where it could be a workable solution if there was no other choice, and that was what the customer was insisting on. Best regards to all, Fred

[Andrew]

Nikolaus. i agree with wolf. your hangers are a normal set of hangers, with the brass base showing from the silver finish being worn off. the hanger clips them selfs do not seem to be brass. they show no finish loss like the other fittings. from what i can tell from the pictures.
Andrew

[Lakesidetrader]

Agreed Andrew, We do occasionally see army hangers that are all tombac, (brass) based. They were silvered and the tombac shows through from use. You know they are tombac the second you pick them up as they are heavy.
Great dagger BTW!!!