Degens:
Thanks and it is good to be back. I too thought this Holler predates all others at first. However, there are a couple of reasons I think it is after the Janos/Doug guards. 1)ALthough I do not show it, the crossgraining of the center segment on my dagger is vertical. On Doug Ritchie's dagger, I believe I could see horizontal graining on the center segment. The (Wittmann Page 35) Pack guards all seem to have vertical graining on the center segment. 2) The scabbards on my Holler and the Pack based Holler are identical. THey both have those fine little acorns chiseled in between the leaf bands, and on the ends of the bands. The Janos/Ritchie guards have bands that typical of initial production on many early daggers - unless I missed something.
Your Holler is beautiful. It appears to have that heavy silvering that you see on early Hollers. I see that in addition to missing the cresant tool mark, it also does not have the little horizontal marks on the neck (a Wotan identified characteristic for these pieces). I am wondering if it has the tapered tang and if the scabbard is the same as the Pack type? It does seem to have a very high quality blade like the early Hollers - with the vertical graining.
