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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;the blacksmith, post: 12338954, member: 20148&quot;]I mentioned in the thread on the SS Totenkopf ring that I used to collect Third Reich daggers. I also mentioned that I no longer collect them, nor have any in my collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are so many reproductions and fakes around&nbsp; today that collecting them is a real minefield. The reason that I stopped collecting them was because of a German Kriegsmarine (navy) officers dagger that I bought. I&#039;ll explain....</p><p><br /></p><p>I found a beautiful, mint condition navy dagger, complete with its bullion knot and hanging straps and belt, made by F.W.Höller of Solingen. The dagger was mint and complete, as all of those that I had were. However, a while later I saw another couple of them for sale, in the same condition and also complete. It transpired that they were made from original wartime parts, but assembled much, much later.</p><p>That had me thinking, what is a fake or a repro?&nbsp; The dagger was genuine in that the parts were made by Höller during the war, but was never assembled nor worn by any officer at that time.</p><p>It was not a fake as such, nor was it a reproduction, but at the same time it was in the truest sense not genuine either.</p><p>That&nbsp; sowed so much doubt in my mind that I sold all mine, and it is a question that I still cannot answer some 40 years later. Forgetting the politics and connections, would you have been happy owning it, or would you too have passed it on?</p><p>The above question obviously applies to any &#039;antique&#039; not just the daggers in question.</p><p><br /></p><p>As one can see, they are rather beautiful daggers....[ATTACH=full]553867[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>With apologies for posting something with a swastika on, I hope no one is offended.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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