Original Item: Only One Available. This very good condition mid war period produced SA Dagger is made with nickel-plated fittings throughout. The crossguards and tang nut are made from alloy, most likely zinc-based, and still have much of the original plating intact. There is overall oxidation and light bubbling on the fittings, with flaking off the plating near the guards. The pommel guard has a bit more oxidation, and the rear is missing a lot of the plating.

The grip is a fine product having a fine brown colored mahogany tone in the surfaces and having medium center ridge construction. This grip is in good condition with nice grain, and fits the crossguards well. There are some small dents from service, and there is a small chunk missing by the pommel on the reverse. The SA symbol button is nicely, with partly intact enamel, and the plating intact with overall light oxidation. The details are still there to the inlaid eagle, including the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas (hook cross). It looks to be the later war style aluminum eagle.

The blade of this example is in excellent condition, with almost all factory final polish cross grain still visible. There is some runner wear and light scratching on the surface, but nothing more. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is still quite crisp, with the factory darkening retained almost completely!

The rear is etched with the RZM contract information:

This marking indicates the dagger was made by RZM Dagger contractor "83", which records show is the rare maker Richard Plümacher Sohn, Stahlwarenfabrik (steel wares factory) located in Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in western Germany. Per J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS, this company was a restructured version of Richard Plümacher, Messerfabrik, which began operations in the 1920s. First registered in 1934, they originally made mostly cutlery and knives, but later made SA and NSKK daggers for the Third Reich. This is the only example of a Richard Plümacher Sohn edged weapon that we have ever had. The company did survive the war, but stopped trading in 1962.

The Reichszeugmeisterei (National Quartermaster's Office), or RZM, was was based at the Brown house in Munich and NSDAP party headquarters in Berlin. The RZM ensured that the manufacturers of military items were consistent in design, quality of materials and other characteristics of the items. It also defined standards of design, manufacturing and quality and published an authoritative color chart for textiles. The M7 in the code stands for knives/daggers, contractor 84 stands for Carl Schmidt Sohn of Solingen.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and has very good original brown enamel paint. It has just a bit of scuffing and the usual crazing in the finish, with only small areas of finish loss. The scabbard shell is equipped with fine matching plated steel mounts,, which do show some wear and oxidation, particularly the rear of the chape. They nicely match the crossguards and are complete with all four dome head screws.

A great example of a mid to late war pattern SA dagger from a rare maker, complete with 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.