Postschutz dagger

[Larry C]

Oh but of course Operaman...it is beautiful,, but as they say Beauty is only skin deep and without the depth of true history,,its just another pretty face! Regards Larry

[operaman]

I guess there is some truth to the eternal question" How can we put lipstick on this pig"

[butschekantiques]

Thanks so much for this interesting discussion! Special thanks to Larry for pointing out.
I see there are too many red flags so I will definitely not offer this one in our next auction. Some bad news for the collector now who wanted to consign. Many thanks!

[robin morley]

Full credit must be given to Klaus for running the gauntlet, posting the dagger for opinions and acting honourably on the opinions given.

[cogwheel]

LarryC: I've read your post where you stated thousand of reproductions flooded the market in the 60s and 70s coming from Russia. Are you sure about that? That was the high point of the Cold War where the Soviets controlled every aspect of live in Russia and all borders where closed pretty tightly. Smuggling was quite risky and the penalties were too severe to take a chance for a bunch of fake Postal daggers. I know there were many replicas turned out in Germany but the base metal in all cases was not nickel silver but heavily nickel plated brass. Original early Postal daggers were made with nickel silver fittings, later ones were made with zinc diecast hilt fittings and nickel plated steel scabbard fittings. Only the early NS ones were numbered, the later ones were not - zinc diecast is too hard and brittle for stamping.

[Larry C]

Hi Cog wheel sometimes my mind moves faster than my typing fingers and vice versa....I do feel some have come out of Russia JMO,, but more so now presently. The attributes on the dagger Klaus has posted has reproductive issues,, which I have already stated and posted photos,,but I would encourage any other photographic and period variations similar to the one posted in this thread,, that may add to discerning the authenticity of this example or others. I feel the technology of today more so now has come very close in reproducing exactly in every aspect in physical appearance. Klaus dagger IMO is not from the 1960s or 70s,,as the repro quality is higher now.
Cogwheel...would you know what other types of repro daggers came out of Germany during the cold war era? That information would be greatly welcomed in this discussion,, and a useful tool.
Regards Larry

[Rancid66]

Maybe I'm wrong, but this is my chronology.
The first replica daggers come from after the post war Germany, which were produced as souvenirs for the occupation troops.
After the enactment of legislation to ban the swastika in Germany, a large part of the production is moving to Spain, and a small part of England. (I'm talking about Europe)
With the fall of the "Iron Curtain" in Eastern Europe, began a golden age for copies dagger.
(desire for profit + naive buyers from the west)

Regards
Vedran