SA dagger

I have been talking to a guy in town via emails and he has an SA dagger. Supposed to be '33-'35 manufacture and by a rare maker. Supposed to be in mint condition. I know about not buying it without seeing it and all but I was wondering what are some of the prices of these daggers. I have researched quite a bit and the prices I'm coming up with are anywhere from $200 to $600 sometimes $700, He says his has been appraised at $1100 and asking $1000. I have bought a few bayonets and things but nothing this expensive. Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

thomlitt2@aol.com

Thanks
Tom

Can you find out who the maker is? If it is indeed a rare maker and in mint condition, it can easily be worth north of $1k

He said it was made by J.P. Sauer & Sohns. There are so many makers and I haven't been able to determine if this one is a rare maker or not.

J.P. Sauer is one of the more common makers. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the rarest, Sauer would rate a 3. HTH

I went and looked at the dagger. The handle has 2 deep dings in it and 2 long deep curved grooves like it was dropped onto a ledge or something. The blade is shiny and smooth with a couple slight stains, looks like it has been hit with steel wool judging by the swirls in the metal. The owner tried to pass this off as marks from the scabbard but I pointed out the difference in the straight lines as opposed to the swirls. The eagle looks good and the roundel is in good shape. I took the handle off and the marks on the tang was a 5 and either an E or an M. The scabbard also looks like some of the anodized finish had been rubbed off with steel wool. I thought an anodized finish would have been tougher than that. The nickle fittings were all in good shape with just a couple minor stains. The hanger was in reasonably good shape. The leather a little cracked but the metal looked good. Just from what I have read I do believe it is authentic. The maker is J.P. Sauer and the logo is a double oval with a man and staff in the middle.

I have looked at a ton of websites and read all I can find so far. i would like to purchase this but from what I read can't see it being worth $1000 like he is asking. i would like to make him an offer but don't want to insult him nor pay a bunch more than it is worth.

He also had an engraved dress bayonet. I was much more leary of this. The blade was engraved with an eagle and words on each side. The chrome all looked too good. The grips were a black plastic held on by 2 rivets one of which was very loose. The edges of the grips were pretty rough and the checkering was very new looking. The scabbard had a very shiny leather frog that had a painted look to it. He said it had been identified as being made by a sword maker and was very rare. It seems very rare is a phrase you hear a lot. He said he has been offere $800 for it. Also he said it was brought back from germany by his uncle and he gave it to him 50 years ago.

I am new to the collecting area. I have always been very interested but just now getting financially able to do the buying and not just looking. I have always heard about the craftsmanship and attention to detail the germans put in to things. I can see it in the dagger but the bayonet I just don't know. I took a bunch of pictures of both and will try to post them when I can. I know I am new and have a lot to learn and that some lessons come pretty expensive.

I was thinking offering $500-600 for the dagger.

I appreciate everyones input and am always anxious to learn something new.

Part of our problem is a word picture doesn'r replace the real thing. Getting into this line of collecting is full of extremely deep pitfalls and EVERYTHING is VERY expensive. You're going about it the right way. All you can do is offer him a lot less and try. If he doesn't take it, there are more fish out there. As soon as you find out EVERYTHING he has is rare(so he thinks) this gives you an indication of his mind set. This line of collecting is one of the most reproduced and faked of all of them.

Thank you Jim for you input and advice. Learning about this stuff is facinating.

The owner lied to you about the condition and lied about the rarity. What's next?
Jim made some good points above.
Personally, I'd offer between 4 and 5 hundred. I think when you start reaching 600 and up you can find a nicer conditioned dagger; especially when it comes to the common makers. JMHO

I decided to pass on the above dagger deal. The price just kept going up and he claimed to have a sight unseen offer for $2000 from a buyer in St Louis. Does anyone know a good reputable seller or site they could recommend? I know it probably isn't practicle to advise for or against any particular place in an open forum like this with all the political correctness issues these days, but if anyone would like to email me I would be grateful. Thanks

Tom

http://www.johnsonreferencebooks.com is at least a place to read and educate yourself, before diving headlong into what promises to be the single most expensive hobby you could start. Except for trading wives every three or four years that is...