The 26TH Yankee Posted 22 March , 2012 Share Posted 22 March , 2012 Hi, I have a German "Quillback" and a "Butcher blade" neither of which have any date on them. Anyone know why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 23 March , 2012 Share Posted 23 March , 2012 They may be private purchase or possibly export, (bayonet experts to the rescue please) khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shippingsteel Posted 23 March , 2012 Share Posted 23 March , 2012 Well there's not many of those around, but I may be able to help a little ... These German bayonets are usually dated on the 'spine' or top of the blade near the handle, in the form of a Crown and Letter over a 2 digit number. The S98/05 or butcher bayonets are usually dated in that fashion but it is not uncommon to find ones that were never dated at all, so not surprising. The S98 quillback are usually found well marked and dated as they were mostly manufactured prior to the war, when they had more time for details. However there were some quillbacks that were made for export (such as the Peruvian contract) and I don't think that these were dated on the spine. A couple of photos of the spine of the blade may help here. Cheers, S>S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shippingsteel Posted 23 March , 2012 Share Posted 23 March , 2012 Here is a few examples of the various date formats found on the German bayonets. The first 2 are on the S98/05's while the third photo shows the S98. Cheers, S>S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 26TH Yankee Posted 23 March , 2012 Author Share Posted 23 March , 2012 Thank you both for the reply. The butcher blade has a small crown on the spine, but, nothing else. So, these might have been made for another country? Thank so much. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 23 March , 2012 Share Posted 23 March , 2012 ... The butcher blade has a small crown on the spine, but, nothing else.So, these might have been made for another country? Hi Steve, I have an 'odd' Butcher blade bayonet that also lacks any spine marking. But I would think that if yours has a small crown there, on the spine, then it is regular 'German' issue and for some reason the year stamp and below that the letter or 'fracktur' mark (inspector's mark) was not applied (the photo's above by S>S show these marks). So, perhaps not an export bayonet, although I have a vague memory that 3rd Reich German export bayonets had German inspector's marks on them - might that have been the case with pre-WWI export bayonets? More to the point - have a closer look at the pommel, just above the rectangular side of the pommel latch: there should be a very small mark, a crown over a letter there if it is a regular WWI issue 98/05 butcher bayonet. If not, then it could still be a WWI dress bayonet. Trajan PS: As is often said: a picture is a thousand words... That would certainly help in this case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 26TH Yankee Posted 24 March , 2012 Author Share Posted 24 March , 2012 Hi Trajan, nice to speak with you again. You're right, there is a tiny mark on the pommel just where you said. It is a small crown. I can't read the number under it because it is so small. Thanks a lot for your help! Steve PS: The mark is identical to the one below the number 15 in the pic on the left that SS was thoughtful enough to put up for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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