German luftwaffe officer's sword

[ricebasher302]

This might not be quite the right place for this, but I thought it'd be worth a shot. A friend of mine asked me if I could find anything out about a sword he had obtained. I've poked around online for a while and have learned that it is likely a WWII dress sword for a Luftwaffe officer.

The attached picture is an image of a replica piece I found online, but it looks nearly identical to the real sword. The gentleman is interested in selling it because it holds no sentimental value and he has no history on the piece.

If anyone here could tell me a bit more about its value, desirability, history, and how to go about selling it, that would be great. If there are better places to research, please direct me there.

Many thanks!

 

[hso]

Sorry, but a picture of the item is all that will help since so many fakes and replicas were made nothing valuable can be said about your buddy's sword.

 

[ricebasher302]

I'm not asking for an exact appraisal. If I took a photo, it'll look exactly like the one shown, so let's assume the sword in question is an original in 90% condition. Help me out.

 

[Yo Mama]

The attached picture is an image of a replica piece I found online, but it looks nearly identical to the real sword.

Ok, I get the original having historical value, ect....

But making a replic I just don't get.

 

[fireside44]

But making a replic I just don't get.

What good is an original besides collectible value and as a conversation piece? I suspect the replicas are for those who desire the conversation piece without the collectible price tag.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Maybe your friend's is a replica too if they replica in the picture is exactly like it......

 

[frankenstein406]

We need pics of it or we can't really help you. If its a fake its gonna be way different in price then the real thing. Almost better off closing it till we get the right info.

 

[Slamfire]

Sorry, but a picture of the item is all that will help since so many fakes and replicas were made nothing valuable can be said about your buddy's sword

Like Confederate swords, there are more Nazi swords and daggers being made today, than existed at the end of WW2. Any "Nazi" item is suspect. I knew people faking double decal helmets, hats, you name it.

Nazi items take more work to sell as they are banned on ebay and on many electronic boards. Some nations ban the sale of any Nazi items.

I don't care for Nazi stuff and therefore it has no value to me.

 

[M-Cameron]

Nazi items take more work to sell as they are banned on ebay and on many electronic boards. Some nations ban the sale of any Nazi items.

i dont know what you are talking about....because there are plenty of Nazi items on ebay.

 

[KodiakBeer]

20th century swords are not as valuable as you'd think. You can snap up WWI and WWII swords for as little as $50 on Ebay. I've got a dozen or more of them.

NAZI marked swords hold more value because there are people who collect NAZI memorabilia. The problem here is of course separating the real from the replica.

The big problem is that most 20th century swords are not "real" swords in the first place, but merely decorative items intended to be hung on the belt at parties. They are poor quality steel electroplated with nickel, with cheap bakelite handles. Since they are so poor in quality in the first place, they are easy to fake...

 

[rcmodel]

dont know what you are talking about....because there are plenty of Nazi items on ebay.

NO, there isn't.

Ebay has a long standing ban on Nazi related items.
I got banned from selling on eBay for a two weeks several years ago for listing a butter knife from an officers silver table set with a swastika on the handle.

Here is the rule straight from the eBay "Offensive material policy".

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/offensive.html

rc

 

[M-Cameron]

NO, there isn't.

Ebay has a long standing ban on Nazi related items.
I got banned from selling on eBay for a two weeks several years ago for listing a butter knife from an officers silver table set with a swastika on the handle.

Here is the rule straight from the eBay "Offensive material policy".

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/offensive.html

rc

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=nazi&_sacat=See-All-Categories

http://cgi.ebay.com/German-NAZI-WW2...308?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20b661c17c

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nazi-era-Souven...680?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5641bffd28

http://cgi.ebay.com/German-Youth-Kn...482?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item1c188047e2

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dagger-German-Nazi-/170589523822?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item27b7ed8f6e

 

[KodiakBeer]

Ebay has a long standing ban on Nazi related items.
I got banned from selling on eBay for a two weeks several years ago for listing a butter knife from an officers silver table set with a swastika on the handle.

People sell Swastika marked items all the time on Ebay by merely blurring out the image and noting in the descriptive text that the item is "marked". I'm not defending the practice, merely noting how it's done...

 

[sonofodin]

The practice of what exactly?

So what if they want to sell war memorabilia.

The sugar coating is starting to hurt my teeth again.

 

[Slamfire]

Ebay policy say these are not allowed:

Uniforms, uniform components, weapons, or other items that bear the Nazi swastika or SS runes

And yet some of the examples that were posted

This knife has SS runes:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dagger-German-Nazi-/170589523822?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item27b7ed8f6e

And the combination poker chips and knife have swastika's!

http://cgi.ebay.com/German-Youth-Kn...482?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item1c188047e2

Either Ebay has relaxed its written policy, or these are flying under the radar.

I suspect the latter.

 

[rcmodel]

They haven't relaxed their policy that I know of.
Had a good friend try to sell some WWII Nazi medals & a WWII flag recently, and he got booted for a week or so too.

Those items shown are flying under the automated radar eBay uses to find them somehow.
I'm surprised the eBay Nazi hunters haven't reported them all yet.

rc

 

[hso]

That's probably more than is needed on ebay. The guy just wants and idea what the thing is worth and without actual detailed pictures of the actual item no one can tell him.

Here's a site with a couple of real Luft swords that you can send your buddy to for a ballpark estimate. http://www.lakesidetrader.com/Swords.html

 

[Texas Gun Person]

Nazi items hard to sell?


Hardly.

Plenty of people who collect Nazi and WWII memorabilia.

 

[ricebasher302]

Thank you HSO. I'll be checking out that link after this post!

I understand that replicas are prolific and that you'd all like to see a picture of the actual item, but that is not possible right now. The owner of the item knows the history of the piece, so it is reasonable (for me, not you) to assume it is an original.

So, if I were able to provide pictures, what would you be looking for in them. Are there perhaps some markings or something that I may be intelligent enough to look for to aid in my research?

 

[ricebasher302]

Okay, great link HSO. Thanks again.

 

[IlikeSA]

If you're really curious, ask your question here:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=733

They are a bunch of really well informed people there who can tell you about metal, history, and a whole host of things about blades.