Exclamation Blade SS Dagger by K&M – D1070
Though the reason for these exclamation motto SS daggers is unknown, one thing that is for sure is that they are not all that commonly encountered and highly sought after by 3rd Reich edged weapon collectors. This is a good solid example in this offering, for a budget price.
A fantastic grip begins the description of this mid period M33 SS dagger. The wood remains in exceptional condition, void of any splits, cracks, fractures, chipping, missing chunks, or repairs. It’s low contour ridge and smooth texture makes this handle the exception rather than the rule when it comes to these rather fragile components. An excellent nickel silver grip eagle has been expertly set straight as well as flush to the wood. The emblem remains in fine condition, featuring fine detail to the bird and a dark patina over it’s surface. At the top of the obverse a sinister looking set of SS runes leer out at the observer, making no mistake what organization the owner of this dagger belonged to. The runic is in nice shape, with all the toned silvering and enamel intact. Typical for this maker, the heavy silver content crossguards are more golden toned on these exclamation motto M33’s, as that is clearly shown in the photos. These hardware components give the dagger a noticeable heavier feel to the hilt on these edged weapons.
The scabbard to this dagger remains straight, void of any major hits, bends, splits, or unsightly damage. While the enamel coverage is excellent on this shell, it probably has been freshened up at some point in time. We just assume this with a lot of black painted shells at times because its so hard to tell when they look so good but for all we know it’s original. It doesn’t appear to be recently, as there is a fair amount of age and dullness to the surface color. Both nickel silver fittings are in good shape, displaying a few bumps, age, and typical wear. They remain solid to the shell and held firm by 4 factory dome head screws. As a nice little bonus and certainly a $200 value in itself, a black SS hanger is included with this scabbard, and looks to be original to the piece.
We finish up with the blade. It remains straight, appears full length, void of any tipping, sharpening, pitting, buffing, or cutting edge chips. And of course as shown, the motto variation reading Meine Ehre heist Treue!, with that exclamation mark at the end of the “e” in the word Treue. Both the etch and the RZM trademark on the reverse, have been darkened up at some point. We see this occasionally on SS blades, and certainly know that there were a few SA manufactures who did this on a regular basis. In this case it was done to make the moto stand out a bit more, when perhaps the burnishing wore thin over time as the moto is very lightly etched. Though hard to say when exactly this was done, it doesn’t dimmish the desirability of a nice looking SS dagger as we have in this listing in my opinion. The blade shows no signs of any sharpening though its just ever so tapered near the crossguard. We did take it appart to confirm all parts are period, and they are, when appart we noticed the tang was cut flush which we also see from time to time and probably done in the period. On the reverse is the rarely seen contract number thought to be attributed to the Klittermann & Moog edged weapon firm by most of the collecting community, and the date of manufacture: 324/38 SS.
Yes, it has a couple challenges but go find another by this maker available they just don’t come up often. Also, if it didn’t, this highly sought after SS dagger would be at least double that of this asking price. Truly a bargain at SOLD