Hi George,
Thanks for your observations, and as I expected, you're quite right. The blade spine has the remnants of the original Imperial inspection marks. Much of the maker mark appears deep while other letters such as those in the direct center, The M in "Maschinenfabrik", the A in "AG" and the D in Duisburg all appear much lighter than the letters on the flanks of the mark which have been.
Also of interest, the number 192 is stamped and visable on the top of the mortise key as it leaves the pommel when the button is pushed.
Although I haven't seen very many of these bayonets, I don't believe I've ever seen a duplicate maker mark, they've all been different. You know many of us collectors are more appropriately termed addicts when we find minutiae like this so exciting and interesting.
I would be interested to see how many forum members have a PSS in their collections and how many of those PSSs have unit markings.
