Guys - my gut tells me Ron Weinand is 100% correct. As we all know, "Ges. Gesch" means patent pending. It makes perfect sense that early Tenos (# 085 - holy cow!) may not have had this stamp. This is plausible. They were so early in the production line that the issue of patents did not come up until later in the production. Who here would like to expand on the German patent process of the 1930's? Anyone know why Teno daggers had the patent pending stamp and others daggers didn't? Now there is the basis for a discussion. I am sure Ron would tell us, but as he indicated he didn't have the time.
Moreover, I am weary and sad of the constant verbal assault on pieces because they are not "textbook." I have to close my eyes for the xx-th time everytime I hear they word "textbook" thrown around like muddy shoes. As someone pointed out, good luck finding this mythical textbook. Sure, there are distinguishing characteristics that educated collectors aspire to learn, but the drum beat of criticism sometimes gets out of hand. Reference material is great - I love Johnson's and Wittmann's books. They have done wonders for the hobby. It is people who are way too quick on the draw here who do not have all the substantial facts that trouble me.
I don't have the knowledge of the advanced collectors here - so I am mute with my comments and reluctant to speak out most of the time. But there has been a rash of posters launching battles against pieces shown here on GDC based on flimsy evidence compounded by inexperience. We have seen this spill into the "For Sale" section on pieces that have already been vetted in the forum, and still it is allowed to continue.
It needs to stop. If you are really knowlegable, then please, please share it with the rest of us. Others need to think before engaging keyboard.
