Original Item: Only One Available. This is an very nice condition early pattern SA Dagger, made by the very desirable firm of Solinger Metallwaren-Fabrik, located in Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. This company had made SA daggers since the Röhm era, but only made them in limited numbers throughout the war. It comes comes compete with an original scabbard in the correct early pattern.

The dagger has solid nickel silver fittings throughout, and is a very nice service used example. The crossguards and tang nut are in very good condition throughout with all fittings having a nice lightly aged patina. There is some wear to these mounts but there is no lifting anywhere, showing that they are solid and not plated. They show only light wear with almost no denting or scratches. The reverse crossguard is faintly Gruppe/Gau marked Ho, for Hochland (Highlands) a district in the far South German mountains, with the principal city being München (Munich).

The grip is a fine product having a lovely dark reddish brown color, with medium center ridge construction. It does have cracking near both guards, and there is chipping and a few chunks missing near the pommel guard. It does fit the guards tightly, and over time the wood cracked due to stress and moisture variation. The pommel nut shows a bit of turning, probably to remove looseness in the hilt, though there is still a bit of movement in the blade.

The SA symbol button is still nicely set, and still has most of the translucent enamel intact, with the nickel plating intact. 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).

This fine example is marked on the reverse ricasso with the SMF trademark logo, which features the etched king holding an upward pointing sword, and is known as the "Seated King". The king is sitting on the firm initials SMF and is positioned above an arch shaped town location SOLINGEN. Solinger Metalwaren-Fabrik Stöcker & Co. GmbH, also known as SMF, were one of the major suppliers of edged weapons to the Luftwaffe during WWII. As the name implies, they were located in Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. For more information, please see J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS.

The blade is in good service worn condition, showing past polishing and staining. It looks to have had some oxidation in the past, which was polished out, leaving some staining and water trip marks. It looks like moisture probably made its way inside the scabbard, causing oxidation. The polishing has almost completely removed the original factory final polish from the blade. The edge has not been sharpened, as is correct. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, however the factory darkening is completely worn away.

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. Over time this lacquer often flakes off, as it has on this example, resulting in the original brown finish wearing off for the most part. There are still traces, with the rest of the scabbard body having a nice lightly oxidized patina. There is also a dent near the top.

The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver, with a great look and some dents and scratches showing typical wear. The chape has some dents and scrapes at the end, though it is not split. The nickel alloy is somewhat soft, so dents are a common thing to see. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and three of the four dome headed screws are still intact, with the chape missing one.

A very nice early war SA dagger by SMF, complete with an original scabbard. Nicely service worn and 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.