Gents,
I picked this Reichsfinanzverwaltung (RFV) bayonet variation up at a local gun show yesterday and thought I would show it.
This is the expected polished steel KS98 variation we normally see that is property marked to the RFV but it has some interesting differences. The normal oversize polished steel KS98 we see with RFV property markings has hard rubber checkered black grips with a drain hole near the guard. It also has a T/O attachment slot in order to attach to the Kar98k with the cleaning rod attached below the bayonet lug. This early Eickhorn polished steel bayonet is made like the other police style KS98 bayonets we see that do not have drainage holes in the grips and has only a T slot to attach to the Kar98a that does not have a cleaning rod that interferes with the bayonet lug.
This bayonet has a typical block letter "R.F.V." property stamp on the reverse guard made with the same stamping die often used on other Customs marked bayonets. I have seen the RFV markings on the steel KS98 with a T/O slot, nickeled private purchase KS98 with a T/O slot, and a few S84/98 bayonets that were sourced from regular military production. I have never seen this Customs property mark on the police style KS98 with only a T slot. You never know what you might find at a local gun show.
George,
A beautiful RFV bayonet, I love the early Eick mark & lack of drain holes. The rubber grips are in really excellent condition as well. Even nicer that you plucked it from a local gun show! Sadly I have yet to find one of these in decent condition for my collection.
The Eickhorn looks like a pre 1933 production, nice pieces, minimum 3 different stamp fonts.
Thanks guys! I see one of Steven's Coppel bayonets is made just like my new one, even down to the upside down stamped RFV. It is always nice to see a couple of these so we know the Customs Armorer was stamping bayonets from different makers. One other thing I have noticed about these property stamps is the use of Customs die stamps with square or rectangular full stops (periods) between the letters. This is also a trait of Saxon Police property die stamps.
Hi
Mine is a Horster, 10 1/8 in. blade.
Yours is the standard style Terry. It also has the other style of die stamp font, along with the square full stops.
Great information as always good find George. timothy
Timothy, very happy you are here. There's a lot of information that many of us share. Some are lucky enough to handle legit paratrooper helmets, as well as chained SS daggers. There's alot of guys here that have done this for a long time. When there's no paperwork trail, some of us go by our best guess.
Sorry Terry, I kept thinking you had an Eick. The more I thought about it, John Z. being an Eick collector, I know he has one. And if I remember right, a member that hasn't posted in a long time, Dale E.(don't recall his last name)had one too. That maker on this type has always been ellusive. I've missed a few on bids, and there's always many pieces I would love to upgrade.
Thanks George for a wonderful topic. Regards, Steve.
Steven:
I have two RFV's, both Eickhorns of course, but the one with the seated squirrel TM is dodgy.
Here are the two:
John
John and Terry, thank you both for posting pieces, thoughts and pics. The fonts are the key to some of the areas we collect. I had seen one by not a know maker, the font was all wrong. I would enjoy some of you collectors to post more pics of these types of pieces to show some of our younger collectors what's real versus blatant fake to deceive.
The TR was a very bloated form of government at the time. My theory is, only a thought on my end, there were two armorers/places these were sent to to be marked. Two Tm's went one place and the other two went to the other, by the font and style. But, it does make it fun to collect such things. An examples would be a pistol marked as well. I know there are rifles stocks, and service bayonets marked as well. Please post you guys.
Yes, the Walther PP pistols are property marked with this pantographed slanted "R.F.V." followed by the number. Incidentally, I have seen some of these pistols with fake RFV markings. Some other pistols, such as the Broomhandles, are distinctively "R.F.V." hand engraved. I have always been leary of the bayonets that are property marked with round full stops such as the one John shows above but I don't think there is a problem with the ones without full stops after the letters such as the second one shown by John. I am personally unsure of the first one John shows but never say never as the Reichsfinanzverwaltung marked a lot of weapons in slightly different manners. I would be much happier with the first marking if it had different full stops.
Nice R.F.V. examples very informative enjoyed it. timothy
I believe that we might now call the Reichsfinanzverwaltung an 'umbrella ' type of organization, which included the Zollgrenzschutz (Customs Border Guards). And I've seen the relatively scarce RFV marked (originally) Wehrmacht issue SG 84/98 type of bayonets, which fit the older Mauser 98 type of rifles that are seen in some photographs of the men with weapons/combat gear. And I also know that the German Police received ex-Austrian arms presumably to supplement a lack of supply of German ones.
Which brings me to the postcard here which I would imagine has to be after the 1938 Austrian Anschluß with the Zollgrenzschutz man, his dog, and what looks like to me an Austrian M95 carbine with the attached front sight protector. Best regards to all, Fred
Great items gentlemen, all I know is I don't have one & I really want one!
Steve,
Your Zoll pistol is killer!!!
Nice RFV love the period picture. timothy
A good original Rasmus. These were manufactured by several makers including Horster.
So far I've noticed RFV bayonets by Eickhorn ('33-'34 double oval & John's '35-'41), Horster (early 2 line logo & circled EFH), Weyersberg (sword inside oak leaves) & Coppel (early elipse with name, Solingen & scales). Anyone know of another maker or mark?
We know Clemen & Jung had contracts with the Customs service based on all the Landzoll & Wasserzoll daggers as well as Zoll bayonets. I guess I'm surprised I haven't seen one of these RFV bayonets with the C&J logo so far.
Here is my well-dressed Horster.
Jerry
more pics 3.
Very good Jerry. Another T slot pommel with grips made without drainage holes.
Jerry,
A super looking full rig, thanks for posting it.
Sorry for using his thread for a question. But....How does one get the year of produktion of these kinds of bayo's. Sorry for asking, but My main interest is in std German ww2 bayonets and not the dress version. I usually sell those I get, but kept this one due to the history behind it.
And what s the rarety of these RFV models. I have not seen one before I got this.
And btw the it's a T/O slot pommel.
Rasmus,
These polished steel KS98 bayonets appear to have been manufactured for some period of time. I have seen them made by Eickhorn with the early circa 1935 logo and the late circa 1940 logo on them. These KS98 are not dress bayonets but are in fact items of issue and are very different from the plated Extra-Seitengewehre. They will fit onto carbine or rifle and are overall a bit larger than the dress KS98.
I see these sell for around $250. and I sold one at SOS last year for that amount. Of course the frog and knot will add more value as well.
Thank you very much for the information. It is highly appreciated, thanks.
I did not know much about tis kind of bayo before reading this thread. I just assumed it was a type of dress bayonet, and did not do anything else than keeping it in a box. With this new information in hand the piece will now not be stored away as it relates more to the std bayonet.
And again thanks for the education :-)
Looks like JohnZ is selling off part of his collection as both RFVs that he showed in this thread are now for sale on Lakeside Trader along with numerous other nice Eickhorn bayonets. The proximity of the period to the edge of the crossguard shows it to be the same bayonet.
