Opinions on WKC Polizei Bayonet Please

[Rescue190]

I am at a local show and with a Sunday price reduction. I could but this one for $375.00 US and would be my first one. I only have enough knowledge to be dangerous to myself. Ha!
My observations are

Original Polizei bayonet, long.
Common Maker
Matching number scabbard to bayonet
Blade condition is not great
Scabbard leather is good but scabbard tip is rough with dents
Frog appears to be correct, a little dry and stitching in pretty good shape. No maker mark legiblle that I can see.
The price range for these is too wide for me to understand.

Questions
I cannot tell if the swas on the emblem was removed as it seems to compare to the wear on the cross guard.
Would this be a good place holder for the price until I upgrade. There was a very nice condition on for sale at $1,050 that included a porta pe'. I thought that was too high.
Does the maker of these have much impact?
Does long vs short have much impact?
Why are some slotted like a bayonet and others have a solid pommel? Does that only occur in the long version?
All thought and opinions are appreciated. Lighting at the show is poor so my apologies on the photo quality. I could have taken them on my tailgate we have light rain occurring.
John

[Watchdog]

Hi John,

Quick reply as I guess you might be in a bit of a hurry.

The bayonet looks good to me from these pics and I think the unit marking is for the Oppeln district in Silesia (now Poland).

I would say that the Wappen (emblem) has definitely been de-nazified unless it was accidentally struck a hard glancing blow in use. The doesn't look at all like gradual wear to me, it was done in one go I feel.

The difference between slotted an un-slotted is that when originally made they were intended for the rifle but later they were made without the slot because it was redundant and therefore unnecessary expense.
The one you show seems to have a functioning bayonet release catch which was also deleted on later specifically made models. The difference between long or short is that long tends to be early, they were originally cut down from earlier bayonets. As later purpose specific items were made from scratch the blade length became reduced.

In use the slotted type had a felt pad inserted in the slot. Red for Municipal and green for rural police.

In short, I feel that is probably a reasonable price for a de-nazified piece that doesn't seem to have any other issues I can see in these pics.

Regards

Mark

[Rescue190]

Thank you Mark. I am going to back to the table to pick up, likely still there as it is pretty slow today. I will post better picks after I bring home.
John

[Watchdog]

There are quite a few threads on the subject on the forum.

This one has some nice examples;

Gendarmerie bayonet, slotted version by P.D. Luneschloss

My own is in post#

Regards

Mark

[Rescue190]

These are the new pics. I also agree with being de-nazified vs wear. The horizontal grind like markings show up well in the pics.
John

[AndyB]

Its a correct one shortage, most real denazified, in case it was still in area of east germany or Poland , Schutzpolizei Oppeln i assume and IV.district. Frog looks like for extra piece.

[Anderson]

The positives are Polizei marks for bayonet and scabbard match, many examples don't. Denazification of the badge are not so commonly seen so suggests the original owner or family held on to it for a while, before selling. It's reasonably tidy condition and it's a cut down example so was originally issued during the Weimar Republic. Given all that I would think the quoted price is reasonable.

[Kilian]

In my opinion the frog is a later addition. There are two dimples in the leather, caused by grip rivets. The shape of and the distance between the dimples appear not to match the rivets in the grip of this bayonet. I also believe I see part of a waffled imprint, caused by the grip of a standard army dress bayonet, which confirms the opinion of AndyB.

[Larry C]

I am at a local show and with a Sunday price reduction. I could but this one for $375.00 US and would be my first one.
Does the maker of these have much impact?

Hi John depending upon the rarity or less seen producers it could impact the price but by very little IMO....yet there are those collectors that collect by the police markings seen on the crossguard...which the SA dagger collector enjoys with seeing rarer type Gruppe marks....so I feel you done extremely well with this Polizei bayo with its details and price

Regards Larry

[Watchdog]

Yep, looks like a bit of a bargain really!
The leather of the scabbard seems to be black. If so then a piece of thick crimson felt would be appropriate for the slot. If it were brown (and it would be obviously brown it would be green.

Regards

Mark