Rob, I will try and keep it brief and focus on just one topic. Twelve years ago this web site did not exist and the Internet was not nearly as educational as it is now.

Twelve years ago if someone had asked Tom Wittmann (who is a very well known name to collectors) about a presentation 1936 dated German Police sword. If the artisan who created such a sword was very skilled there is a reasonable possibility if not probability he would not have known that it had to be a fake. In fact to most collectors including TW - they did not know that it was not until 1938 that the German Police degen was introduced. Not in 1936 as previously thought. The source of that information was not TW but Joe Wotka an expert on the German Police. And it was presented to the collecting community in 2003 in TW�s �SS� book. Which is when most collectors were made aware of the 1938 date.

I thought that the dagger was supposed to be from his brother officers. But a gift from NCO�s, a gift from his family, leftover 1930�s parts etc. etc. are ways to try and rationalize the dagger - but they all miss one important factor. Schnaufer was an officer and was forbidden to wear an enlisted man�s dagger. So why give him something he could not wear???

As for some fakers being stupid that is a fact. They might be good craftsman, but some are really bad historians. The sword I mentioned earlier in the thread was another example where historically provable facts did not match up to the presentation inscription. My point being that �super dumb� does not have a bearing on the skills needed to create well done fakes. And a number of these types of fakes come from the 1960�s, 1970�s, (and later). Some even making an appearance in books not devoted to fakes - but as supposedly original period examples. Once they are unmasked as fakes they usually quickly disappear from sight and are not presented in later books.

I�m not trying to be critical or complicate your collecting experience. I am trying to make a point that relying on experts who may be deficient in some areas. Or who may or may not have your best interests at heart can lead to some unpleasant surprises. FP