DAGGER OPINION PLEASE

[Herb]

Yank, I would be very cafeful about this one. The Luftwaffe dress dagger should have a dark BLUE grip, not a black one. The Tiger stamping is that of Lauterjung & Co. Tiger-Stahlwaren u. Waffenfabrik. Soligen. If you decide to get into collecting these very beautiful items be prepared to pay prices comparable to that of a good Luger of various types, into the thousands even. A good book to get first is 'Reproduction Recognition' I don't recall the author as I sold it when I sold my collection. Tom is very correct, there are more fakes and reproductions than real ones out there now but if you know your stuff you can usually spot them. The ones that Tom mentions about being made on the original machinery, in my experience, will have a very small difference, I feel to let the experienced collectory know that it is a reproduction. A good source that guarentees their authenticity is an auction house called Manion's, you can find them on the internet, they deal in all types of militaria and have a pricey catalog but they stand by what they sell.