I am interested in info on the postal leader's dagger; the soldiers who carried it. and whether repairing one by tightening the tang/handle diminishes value. Also, who does dagger refurbishing to enhance value. The dagger I am looking at has most of the chain missing but is in otherwise good condition. The current owner was a GI soldier who happened to be present at the Nazi officer's surrender in the Po Valley in the Spring of '45 and managed to end up with a sack of surrendered arms - one of which was this dagger.

Hi, the dagger was worn by officers of the Postal Protection Authorities. All things being equal, collectors prefer unrestored pieces that are both complete and in nice condition. However, if your piece has anything seriously wrong with it that significantly detracts from the appeal (say, a broken-in-half handle), restoring it can improve the desirability, and therefore, the value. Reading your post, I infer that the pommel threads are stripped. I would say that something done to tighten the pommel would not hurt the piece if done correctly. And, welcome to GDC! As founder, I hope you find the site useful and informative.

Thank you for your welcome, Craig. All the pieces are in good condition I believe. Exceptions are some chipping of the grip near the handguard; the missing chain links, and the looseness of the grip in the tang - which I agree could be restored without any real modifications. As it is a family piece, I will not ever sell it. Just wanted to get some idea why a Postal officer would have been on the front lines in the Po Valley. Thanks again. I will post a picture of it.

They (Germans) took many orders very serious and the order to surrender arms was no exception many daggers ended up in arms piles for GI's to pick up later, near the end of the war Germany was the front lines therefore you would get people turning in there edged weapons eventhough only a idoit would bring a dress dagger to a gun battle . Oh and welcome to the forum, you may get addict to these edge weapons Beware.