Original Item: Only One Available. This is an very good condition early pattern SA Dagger, made by the exceedingly rare firm of C. Eppenstein Söhne, Messerfabrik, located in Solingen, Germany. This company is known for making early pattern SA daggers, but only made them in limited numbers. It is rated 9 out of 10 for rarity on the McSARR (McAlvanah SA Rarity Rating) scale, assembled based on 18,000 daggers as seen by Mike McAlvanah. Makers of this rarity are extremely desirable and sought after by collectors, and it it is assumed makers of this rarity only made about 1000 daggers during the WWII period. It comes comes complete with an original scabbard, which is in very good shape, and is the correct early type.

The dagger has solid nickel silver fittings throughout, and is a very nice example. The crossguards and tang nut are in very good condition throughout with all fittings having a nice lightly aged patina. There is some age to these mounts but there is no lifting anywhere, showing that they are solid and not plated. They show only light wear with just a bit of light denting and scratching. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked Wm, for Westmark, which encompassed the area around Saarbrücken, in the extreme West of Germany. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior.

The grip is a fine product having a lovely deep mahogany red color, with medium center ridge construction. It shows only light wear and a few small dents, with a small chip missing by the cross guard on the front side. The grain is lovely on this example, with some great color variation. This grip is in very good condition and fits the guards nicely, showing a lovely polished glow. The pommel nut does show some light turning, and the grip is still tightly secured, with no wiggle. The SA symbol button is still nicely set, and still has all of the translucent enamel intact, with the nickel showing some oxidation. The grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. It has just a bit of verdigris on it, showing that it is solid nickel alloy, and it has patinated nicely. The details are still there to the eagle to include the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas (hook cross).

The blade is in very good condition, still showing the original factory final grind cross grain on both sides throughout the surface. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. Some of it has been removed by polishing and cleaning, as is typical, and there is also the usual runner wear that we see on these knives. There is a bit of light staining and oxidation in areas, as well as swirl marks from cleaning, but no major wear, and the edge is still correctly blunt. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, with the factory darkening still partly present.

This fine example was produced by very rare maker C. Eppenstein Söhne, Messerfabrik (Knife factory) of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. The rear of the dagger is marked with the company's "Pair of Winged Horns" trademark double oval logo, with the maker name and address:

Per J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS, this metalworking business was first founded in 1845 by Carl Eppenstein, and then was registered by his sons with Solingen authorities on 31 October 1902. The "Winged Horns" trademark was registered by Hugo Eppenstein, who with his brother Richard was listed as the owner from 1914-1930. By 1939 however, the owner was listed as the Widow Anna Eppenstein. They manufactured various knives, particularly butchers, ham, and bread knives. They are known to have made only a few early SA and NSKK daggers with their distinctive oval trademark. This is the only item of any kind that we have had by this maker.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and is the early-war style, which were produced with a brown "anodized" finish on the steel, which was then lacquered. This example has lost much of the lacquer finish, with traces left near the fittings and scattered on the body. However it still retains much of the original anodized finish, and this is definitely one of the better examples we have seen, with no dents on the body and only light oxidation. The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver, with a great look and some dents and scratches showing typical wear. The chape is completely dented in and split, which is a common thing to see due to the soft nickel alloy. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and all fittings have their original dome headed screws.

A great early war SA dagger from an exceedingly rare maker, complete with a lovely original scabbard. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 8 3/4"
Overall length: 13 3/4”
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 10”

History of the SA-

The SA or Brown Shirts, were a private political formation which Adolf AH and the NSDAP used to maintain order at organized Party meetings and demonstrations. The group was formed in 1921, and grew to a huge force of nearly 3,000,000 men by the later 1930's. To instill esprit de corps, as well as create employment for the Blade City of Solingen, it was decided each SA man would carry a dagger with his Brown Shirt uniform. Huge quantities needed to be produced to accommodate the demand. The dagger initially was produced of hand-fitted nickel mounts with attractive finished wood grip and brown anodized (a bluing process) finished scabbard.

The blade was etched with the SA motto, Alles für Deutschland. Examples produced prior to 1935 were stamped with the German sector of the SA group on reverse lower crossguard. Later examples underwent standardization through the RZM ministry. These pieces were produced of cheaper plated zinc-base fittings and scabbards were simply painted brown.

Prior to his "unmasking" as a traitor, Ernst Röhm was the leader of the SA. In 1934, he distributed approximately 100,000 SA daggers with his personal inscription on the reverse blade. These daggers were to honor individuals who had served with the SA prior to December, 1931. Other than the inscription, these pieces were identical to the standard M1933 SA dagger. After the Röhm purge, the inscription was ordered to be removed. Many examples were returned to the factory for grinding. Others were simply ground in the field by whatever means were available. Examples will occasionally be encountered with remnants of the original inscription remaining on the blade, but mostly none will remain. Some blades exist with an intact inscription, reflecting only the removal of the Röhm signature. Very very rarely is an example seen with a full, untouched inscription, as the holder would have surely risked a charge of treason.