Germany, Luftwaffe. An Officer’s Dagger, by Alcoso

(Luftwaffe Offiziersdolch). A well-preserved Luftwaffe Officer’s dagger, measuring 43 cm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 26.5 cm-long, nickel-plated, magnetic steel blade with a sharpened tip and edges. The blade is plain with the exception of a maker’s mark on the reverse ricasso of “ALCOSO, SOLINGEN”, for the former firm of Alexander Coppel, circumscribing the company’s scale logo. The blade sits securely within a silvered alloy crossguard, with the obverse bearing a raised Luftwaffe eagle clutching a mobile swastika, and with an intact brown leather buffer pad covering the seam. The handle grip is composed of a single piece of ribbed light brown celluloid, with the ribbing retaining an original twisted and rolled bronze wire cord. It completes with a silvered alloy pommel bearing double-sided wreathed mobile swastikas, screwing in to maintain the dagger’s structural integrity. Accompanying the dagger is its original scabbard, constructed of pebbled magnetic metal. The tip bears double-sided raised oak leaves, while the upper third of the shaft has two integral oak leaf bands retaining loops for the accommodation of a hanger. The throat retains a functional spring catch to firmly hold the dagger in place during storage, and is secured together with dual side rivets. Minor issues consistent with age and wear are evident, and include slight running marks to the blade, loss of finish to the alloy fixtures, and minor surface oxidation of the scabbard. The dagger remains in a near extremely fine condition.