A good score or a dud ?

TNBandit · Jul 13, 2023

First of all I didn't buy this with any description of it being anything other than an old dagger. It was included in a lot I bought from an online auction that had several Civil War items and I ws actually wanting the other stuff in that lot. The handle is clearly a modern file handle and the cross guard is likely modern as well. There's a piece of thick metal that been added to take up space below the guard. But.. the blade itself appears hand made, is pitted enough to indicate quite a bit of age and is extremely sharp but shows no sign of being sharpened for a very long time. So do I have something here worth further research or not ? It was basically free since it was part of a lot of other things I wanted.

Thanks fellas.

Papabyrd · Jul 23, 2023

The handle may not be as modern as you think. Lot of Civil War knives had file handles on them. And the cross guard looks hand forged to me. Does the ferrule on the handle have a seam where it was put together ( by lead or Silver ) ? If so it would be old. Send pictures of all sides of the handle please.