Guys, over 6 years of collecting, trade shows, internet shopping I have NEVER seen an example of this quality before. I just sold one on e-bay that was in mint condition, this one is better! It has that nice dull, frosting (never been cleaned look)

Near flawless, bought from an old collection.

check out the frosting

blade is flawless

a REAL keeper!

That's a REAL beauty. Nice one!

Congratulation
never seen such excellent DRK-F�hrer

Great dagger.
Last week i have sold a similar condition red cross leader .

FANTASTIC dagger there!!!
I think the design of these pieces is under appreciated, they look SO nice and in that condition.... you CANNOT beat it!!!
Congrats!!!
Johnny

What can I say ? Woaaaaah !
That's a real keeper for sure.
Congrats on a fine specimen.

This is what makes collecting fun, its all in the hunt for the best!!!!!!

I believe that DRK Leader's Daggers were the least worn of all the TR Daggers. This can be seen by the large number of these daggers in super condition. More DRK Leader's are near mint to mint than any other leader type.
Also, the worst part of the dagger is the scabbard. Steel with a plating and these scabbards will rust easily when the surface plating is cracked or has a fault, resulting in rust formation underneath the surface.
I have had super DRK Officer Daggers with severe rusting around the center scabbard band and even had one where the scabbard actually separated at the bottom of the center scabbard band from rust, while the rest of the dagger appeared to be near mint (the veteran had used a small thin wire just below the center band and around the top fitting next to the grip to hold the dagger on a board in his basement and the wire rusted and rusted the scabbard completely thru at the spot of contact. Unbelievable!!
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria

That's a fine dagger to add to your growing collection of minty daggers. A pleasure to look at every day.

Absolute beauty & still undervalued IMO.
For anyone who has not had one of these in the hand, they are a real treat!