DRK Leader's Dagger added

[AZPhil]

Ok, I was looking at the proximity of the hole to the scabbard but it is the size of the hole that makes it look closer to the scabbard.
I had 4 pages opened and switching to each one to see the difference.
Thank you again for the lesson. Very much appreciated.

Semper Fi
Phil

[Mediumtall]

Nice piece. Score yourself a pair of hangers for it at some point. Here is a link to mine for comparison: Social Welfare Dagger

-- Thanks for the tip Rossi. And you have yourself a fabulous specimen! I've located some SW Leader's hangers but I'm afraid the funds aren't cooperating at this moment. Bloody hell the things are pricey! When I charge up my bankroll soon I'll be sure to grab a set. It sure completes the look, I'll admit.

[Mediumtall]

It isn't just a difference in manufactures. There are at least 2 different manufactures for both the round hole (Social Welfare) and for the square hole (Red Cross), with there being a 3rd type of scabbard for Red Cross. I am sorry I have to use links to show what I mean.

So the common Red Cross Red Cross Leader Dagger | Lakesidetrader uses the eagle commonly associated with Klaas. If you look at the hanger connectors, the holes are close to the scabbard the hole is bigger and the external corners of the holes are rounded.

The rarer version of the Red Cross Red Cross Leader Dagger | Lakesidetrader uses the eagle commonly associated with PDL. Once again if you look at the hanger connectors the holes are farther from the scabbard, hole is smaller and the external corners are sharp.

If you now look at the Social Welfare (round hole) you see a reversal the common version Social Welfare Leader Dagger with Hangers | Lakesidetrader is the eagle associate with the PDL and has the hole fairly far from the scabbard and has a smaller hole

The rare version of the Social Welfare Führerdolch (DRK) - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums has the eagle associated with Klaas and has the hole closer to the body of the scabbard and hole itself is bigger (you can see how little metal is left between hole and edge).

There is a 3rd scabbard found on the square hole which has a single lower scabbard screw. It has the eagle that is associated with Klaas but there is thoughts that these are a 3rd manufacture and are very rare and have not had any round hole versions.

If you talk with the old collectors who buy from vets you will find that it is almost always the same, round scabbards come with the square Social Welfare hangers and the square hole scabbards come with the round Red Cross hangers.

-- Wonderful lesson given here M.E.E.! I needed to put on my 2.5x magnification glasses to compare all 4 pages, lol. Here I thought I was simply just purchasing a blade without much ado. I can't believe the minutiae involved with all these different examples. Needless to say it makes it all that much more interesting.

[M.E.E.]

-- Wonderful lesson given here M.E.E.! I needed to put on my 2.5x magnification glasses to compare all 4 pages, lol. Here I thought I was simply just purchasing a blade without much ado. I can't believe the minutiae involved with all these different examples. Needless to say it makes it all that much more interesting.

Yeah sorry trust me if I had the funds I would try and own each pattern but I do not so I am stuck zooming in and out of pictures of blades that other people own which means I have to use that which I am given. The Red Cross with the PDL style eagle is rare and if I hadn't just paid off another blade I would have talked my wife into letting me get that one. At the same time that one came up for sale Rupture Duck had a 3 screw up for sale, I was actually tempted to start selling off my collection to buy it. Most people don't think as much of them since they are not maker marked.

[M.E.E.]

Ok, I was looking at the proximity of the hole to the scabbard but it is the size of the hole that makes it look closer to the scabbard.
I had 4 pages opened and switching to each one to see the difference.
Thank you again for the lesson. Very much appreciated.

Semper Fi
Phil

I would love to get all 5 in hand and compare, measure, weigh and finally get actual hard data on them but alas I am but a poor collector who just gets to ogle other peoples pictures. There are so many things about these blades that are still not really understood and little details people miss.

[Larry C]

By all means MEE go into detail with your research on these Social and DRK leader daggers.

If you start a new thread ( 1 ) including the the differences seen in these daggers with everything you added into this thread and anything else you can contribute ....
I will pin the thread to the top of the forum.

Regards Larry