Specialty Presentation Shooting Prize SA Dagger

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An incredible one-of-a-kind SA Dagger! Now what exactly is this? I cannot say for sure. In my opinion, this is some sort of Early era Presentation SA Honor/Shooting Prize Dagger. I have asked a few colleagues in the business this seems to be the consensus. If you need “Textbook” for your collection this is not the one for you. For those confident enough to know when they see something special, feast your eyes!

The blade is extremely unique. It is not your typical drop forged polished blade with crossgrain. It has random lines running throughout the length of the blade. I have owned similar blades like this before: Early SA Dagger by Thomas Wielputz with a unique blade and Early SA Dagger by Haenel with a unique blade. It is not maker marked, which may be indicative of a Ground Röhm. The “Alles für Deutschland” motto is gold. These random lines are also visible to the inside of the motto’s letters. There is no evidence of any paint strokes to the gold. It has a perfect fit and sharp tip. It rates Exc++/NM. There is age spotting throughout and it is 2mm shorter than the typical 220mm length but it is a different blade as well.

The scabbard is also incredibly unique. The sheet metal-based scabbard is covered in a green textured leather with two pressed lines to either side. The leather goes under the top fitting and only underneath the lower fittings point. There is green oxidization to the very edges of the nickel silver scabbard fittings. This age is typical of the moisture held in the leather sitting against the nickel-silver content base which is comprised of ~60% copper. Similar to other daggers the seam on the leather is to the side. The top screws have a flat edge and are slightly different than the lower, with the commonly seen dome heads. Perhaps the leather installation required this. The very bottom of the ball has been pushed in. The scabbard fittings, crossguards, pommel nut and screws clearly show a “smokers patina”. If you look closely, even the hanger’s buckle has this patina. All of it matches, clearly it is most visible to the obverse than the reverse. Also, the dagger was clearly stored with the blade inside the scabbard, you can see this to the scabbard throat and base of the crossguard. This piece was stored in a slightly humid area due to the patina and how nice the leather remains.

The crossguards are matching solid nickel-silver. The reverse is Gau stamped: “Wm” (Westmark). The brown hardwood grip is in excellent condition. There is a crack to the reverse top and above the roundel. The solid nickel-silver eagle is nicely detailed and has a perfect fit. The SA roundel has a perfect fit and retains 95%+ of its enamel. Both show slight oxidization similar to the rest of the piece.

This piece came with the single Assmann hanger and has matching patina and the clip works well. Now I normally don’t do this but for the naysayers, I did take the hilt apart. The tang shows traces of gold and the interior is clearly marked: “CAH” (Carl August Hartkopf), the bottom of the grip is marked: “WKS” and the crossguards are both marked: “Sr Sr”. If it was internally numbered I would put this piece on the same scale as an Honor/High Leader dagger. Therefore, it is more-so on par with a High End Presentation Shooting Prize Röhm Honor Dagger, void of the Röhm inscription and maker mark. For what it’s worth, the individual we purchased this from did say: “I acquired this dagger from my 90 year old aunt. She acquired from child of a Veteran”. I also showed this to Tom Whittmann who said: “Whatever it is I am sure it is period”. One to make your friends jealous…