A few points I would like to make based on my experience:
Many early SS daggers had the I, II, or III marks stamped on the rear of their lower guards. Many did not. I have owned three Klass daggers and none were marked. Also, The rarer the dagger, the less likely it is to have the marks. Why? no one knows. One theory was that it made for extra work but added nothing that helped accountability so that the practice was discontinued early on.
The TW Klass in a chained scabbard linked in a post above is a ground Rohm blade that has no district mark. I own an Eickhorn Rohm dagger with the "I" mark. I have never seen a Himmler dagger with a district mark ... but I am sure that by later tonight 2 or 3 will be posted here.
Gau marks on SS chained daggers? They pop up now and then and this has been known for a long time. I have never heard of a reason that made much sense. If you have one that does, lets hear it !!
Gau marks on early maker marked daggers? As shown on page 27 of TW's book. I own that dagger. I bought it because it was the only early SS Puma dagger known. Another later turned up. I bought the dagger with full knowledge of the anomaly. I have had it apart and see no signs of fiddling. Whether it left the factory that way ... I think so but who knows?
