I accept what you are saying and I'm hardly in a position to question it......However. From looking around it seems to me that the factors mentioned above are already priced into my original investment. In other words to buy a similar conditioned dagger in an entirely 'orthodox' configuration would have cost me considerably more. I wanted this piece more for the aesthetic/ iconic qualities rather than the historic value, (although obviously that is important too or would have bought a repro). My aim is to have a display cabinet on the wall with 3 SS in it. A partial Rohm, this chained one in the middle and in a few years from now a Himmler. The historic value is in the Rohm and Himmler. The aesthetic/ iconic in this.
Regarding reconditioning, I have items of furniture and some objects which have been in my family for 400 years. Whilst it is important to me that these daggers keep up with inflation over the next 10- 15 years and it would be nice to be able to sell them for a profit as and when necessary, there is a strong liklihood that these items and others I have bought over the years will be passed on to my children. I will pop my clogs one day and hopefully the kids/ grandchildren will come in my house and loot it of all my treasures before the government does (and without stabbing each other). If that is the case, I doubt in 50 to 100 years anyone will care or possibly even know that the dagger was reconditioned/ repainted. By then it will probably have a platina and daggers which have a platina now may be growing funghi by then! There are arguments to be had on both sides regarding reconditioning and as Dave said earlier, taking our lead from museums would seem sensible.
I suspect lots of you think I am either dumb or rich to have forked out a lot of money with little knowledge of the product. I have done this over the years with Indian sandstone statues, (from India....reproduction but still expensive works of art), gold and silver bullion coins, alpaca rugs from Peru and late period Chinese bronze vases. I have not lost money yet on anything except the stockmarket. My Father also bought a number of ceramic vases in the 50s for a few £ and one or 2 are now worth £thousands. He obviously had a good eye. I am buying these cause I think they are beautiful objects with a clear attachment to one of the most famous/ notorious periods in the history of mankind and consequently they will probably go up in the longterm, and in the meantime I get to own my own little museum which is what I would do if if really was rich! When people talk about who's the most influential person of the 20th cetury they usually come up with names like Bob Marley, JFK, MLK but infact it was quite obviously Hitler. this period of history is well documented and on film so will not be forgotten as quickly as some other periods.
I cannot possibly hope to learn everything there is to know about safely buying a german dagger. I would have to lock myself in a room for a year and only read this blog and the dagger books. Then I would have to spend another 2-3 years handling different daggers. I would love to do that but have other responsibilities. So whilst I confess that I jump in to things fast, my policy is to investigate the dealer as much as the product he sells. I cannot hope to be able to learn everything about daggers, and with respect I doubt most collectors can either, because only a dealer will get to handle enough of them to reach that level of knowledge. A collector I guess might handle 1000 daggers in 10 years, and a top dealer might I guess handle that many in 2 years? If you invest money in the stockmarket, you don't necessarily go and do degrees in economics, accountancy and business before going to the company and forensically examining their accounts prior to buying some shares. You find an investment company with a good track record, a good reputation, honesty and products which on the face of it seem good. Most investors only have a very basic understanding of what they are putting their money in. I'm better at investigating, (sussing out) people than daggers!
Back to this dagger. I am happy with what I have bought and 2 of the world's top experts and one of the world's top dealers says this configuration is legit. Tom and Tom didn't know I was considering buying a dagger until late in the conversation and so this wasn't a case of dealers helping out dealers... If it wasn't originally anodized, why would it have the 2 screw centre ramp? I have been told also that if it was originally painted, the paint would bubble up underneath the anodizing. I have been quoted several passages in several books which confirm the originality of pieces such as this and Johnson seems to be making a point by repeatedly stating it on his site. All these dealers have suggested that the 'purists' like rules about daggers, but that these rules didn't apply when a factory was waiting on an order of parts, but they had a batch of other parts sitting there ready to go. Why would someone doing a restoration anodize a painted scabbard when apparently it is more difficult and more expensive to do so and anyone who knows anything about daggers knows that fundamentally altering an original design aspect will reduce the value of the item? I am happy that this dagger probably left the factory looking much the way it does today. I am also happy that I got it at a significantly lower price than other comparible daggers because most collectors want to buy something more expensive with rust and dirt on it. The money saved on this maybe will go towards buying a nice untouched Himmler one day!
One more question. Is it worth paying for an authenticity certificate from Johnson or Wittmann, and are they generally recognised as the world's 2 top experts on German daggers? Are there any world recognised dagger authorities in Britain who might do certificates for me?
