Hello everyone, I am a new guy on the forum and recently purchased an early NSKK dagger for my collection of historic items. Thanks for checking it out. Mike.

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Looks nice, if I had to pick something apart I would say possible repaint of the scabbard, but impossible to accurately judge by the pic.
Even if it was, not so uncommon and wouldn't hurt value/collectability much if any.

Hi Mike

Nice dagger and a nice 3 piece hanger good choice

Thanks folks, I am not to worried about the fact the scabbard was repainted. Maybe someone heard about the 1936 order about painting them black and did it 80 years after the fact ;-)

Nice Dagger Mike

Very nice Mike - thanks for sharing

3 piece hangers are always nice

You folks are great, I already love it here.

Nice dagger and rig it is impossible to tell from the pics supplied as to whether the scabbard is period or a modern repaint so rest easy nice pick up cheers, Ryan

Here is a close up of the scabbard. To me the finish looks untouched but kind of new looking if that makes sense.

Mike

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Almost certainly a repaint, as others said, no real worry there.
If it is, looks to be a nice job of it anyhow.

Thanks Doug, no worries here. I think I will hang on to it for a while.

Mike

Just a thought How can anyone say that this dagger scabbard appears to be a re paint from the photos supplied???? Are the scabbard screws turned or otherwise compromised? is their any evidence of paint on the fittings I certainly cant tell whether period or modern paint from the pics the finish appears nice but I have mint original un touched pieces in my own collection that put this to shame. Just sold an RZM Eickhorn SS to Lakesidetrader that had a mint finish to scabbard without spidering or hits Ive had tagged un-issued NSKK with and without spidering and/or signs of age.....don't want to offend anyone but I am curious Only one opinion states possible repaint but not 100% that is like labeling an item as "possibly reproduction" just my two cents again could be a repaint like most NSKK could be but hands on needed Nice dagger and hanger

The screws appear to be untouched.

Don't worry so much at the screws.

The scabbard paint, which would get the most wear, must match the rest of the condition of the dagger, including hanger.

A minty scabbard and a not neat mint dagger tells it all.

Still a nice dagger.

From my experience, a mint scabbard [which of course exist and are not exactly rare] would be accompanied by a mint dagger/hanger ect.
Does not appear to be the case here, wear does not match at all. Of course, dagger/hanger may not be original to the scabbard, who knows.

I was very clear, and even said "impossible to tell for sure from pics", so not sure what you are so shook up about, as if I conclusively condemned it outright ,,, So if we are to wait for an in hand inspection before offering any opinions on anything, I guess then we'll never be able to judge anything unless the guy happens to live down the street.

I stand by my judgement as a probable repaint, you are free to differ.

I certainly can't tell if the scabbard is a repaint. Nice dagger either way.

Doug at least this time you gave a more detailed reply. I might agree that the dagger may not be original to the scabbard, again hard to tell from the pics even if it were a mismatched piece this again does not in any way substantiate that the dagger scabbard is a "possible repaint" All that I tried to impart was your statement without qualification does more potential damage than good....if it was my dagger I would ask you why you make such a pronouncement from a poor quality photo. You may be correct but usually you need more than " I think so" or "it is my opinion" your opinion in this case potentially hurts the piece, therefore it should be based on fact these are the rules of the forum sorry if you took offence I found it rather obtuse to pronounce the scabbard a possible repaint without substantive fact. Lets ask Tom Johnson or Whittman if they can tell from the photos and for the record there are many things that one can comment on without a hands on inspection in this forum in this case a repainted scabbard one cannot cheers, Ryan

P.S in my 35 years of collecting daggers I have had many excellent conditioned scabbards of all types with terrible or sub standard blades moisture finger prints nicks sharpening etc as I have had many worn scabbards with mint blades so your assertion that a mint scabbard is accompanied by a mint piece does not stand up although that may be your "experience" cheers, Ryan

also how does the dagger not match the condition of the scabbard????? are we looking at the same dagger here???? the fittings are nice, the handle is nice with no wear (from the pictures) lets ask Paul Hogle to chime in and some of the more respected even the blade is decent and we all know that blades can be good or crap regardless of the exterior or scabbard c'mon guys a lot of "grasping" here if you ask me

I still like the piece and have no complaints about it :-)

Very nice Dagger!

Just a quick note to remind people that "spidering" can also be reproduced fairly easily. (My first job was in a paint lab of a company that specialized in "wrinkle finish" paint for stoves and such.) - Morgan

Hi Morgan you are correct of course welcome to the forum. In the case of such a dagger one would have to examine the piece in totality. Also one would question of course why someone would go through such pains for a very common dagger etc. Cheers and regards, Ryan

Some people might like to “restore” a scabbard to match the “saltiness” of the rest of the piece.
Ok, before the lynch mob gathers, I am the “Leave it alone” type unless the piece is basically a starter for a new collector. The thought came up because I remembered a guy buying an SS that was fairly nice, but the scabbard had a very “poor” re-paint job done on it in the past.
I gave my usual “Leave it alone” speech to no avail. I then told him it would cost him about $100. (It took a couple hours.) Mostly to try and put him off. (Alas, to no avail again.)
That one came out good, but a very good thing for the collector to know is that 90% of the stuff that can be used to spider the paint works because it “softens” parts of the paint as dries. This area (line) will get “rubbery” and buckle up.
The tip off being that Spidering caused by this is fairly easily “brushed off” (even years after) so there are a lot of areas where large amounts of the “spider lines” are seen because of missing paint, rather than the raised lines.
Real Spidering is basically hardened, and areas that are missing paint in the “spider lines” usually looked like “chipped enamel” and blank spaces are intermittent.

Oh, I really should mention that after that, I basically took the position of not doing any “repairs” on other people’s Daggers. (Thinking about it being sold again later on as “original.”) The whole area of Preservation Vs. Restoration Vs. Repair is a Quagmire to be sure!

your services filled a need if one can restore an automobile or furniture or an oil painting why are we still so anal about daggers??? cheers, Ryan

We are anal because restoration materials weren't there man, they weren't there.......

I think it is a safe bet that most of my dagger and scabbard were "there" which works for me. I didn't choose to repaint it but I am not going spend alot of time worrying about it. Thanks for all the great feedback everyone.

what does that even mean?? LOL

also a note for the newbies there are many examples of period repaints to existing annondized scabbards. I guess what one would term "restoration" so it was in fact done period materials did exist back in the day LoL cheers to all, Ryan

I thought the commenter was referring to the point that the spray paint on the scabbard wasn't "there" as in 1934 or whatever. At least that is how I read it.

Hi Mike impossible to tell from your pics whether scabbard is a post war repaint or not a very nice dagger cheers

Thank you.