Original German WWII 98k Rifle Short Dress Sawback Bayonet with Leather Frog by Ernst Sharff, Kober & Co. Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. The K-98 dress bayonet was a dress version of the combat style, and was worn by enlisted and NCO personnel for dress and parade occasions. The bayonets were finished with a high-quality nickel plating, with black checkered bakelite grip plates and black painted scabbard. The choice of blade length was left to the purchaser, being nickel-plated short or long version. There was usually a red or green colored felt insert in the rifle slot, if the bayonet had one, and the bayonet was suspended from a black or brown leather frog. Some had a functional bayonet latch, while it was ornamental on some, and others did not have any type of slot or catch.

This Heer (Army) example is in very good condition, and has a factory nickel-plated “Sawback” style blade, which is something we have not seen before! Most of the the Nickel Plating is intact and bright. There is a bit of plating loss in areas, but nothing major, with the only real condition issue being that the blade was sharpened after being plated, and used. The grip plates are the black checkered type, and both are in great condition. They are retained by nickel-plated steel rivets which have dressed heads on the obverse.

The blade is a fine nickel-plated example, and is in very good condition, and still has the original leather blade buffer/washer. The blade is straight, with no chips, bends, or other major issues. The plating is in good shape, but definitely has some runner wear, as well as wear from having been sharpened and used as a knife at some point. The plating on the “sawback” is factory, and the tips of the notches have a bit of plating loss. The blade is fairly sharp, suggesting it was put into service in the closing days of WWII, as a “last ditch” effort.

The ricasso is marked inside a lozenge with E. SCHARFF · KOBER & Co. / FRANKFURT/M. surrounding a trademark “Pelican on Nest” emblem over PELIKAN. Ernst Sharff, Kober & Co. was a wartime blade supplier, located in Frankfurt am Main, and “Pelican” or “Pelikan” was one of their registered brand names. The metalworking business claimed to have roots going back to 1747, and the “Pelican” name was registered by Alexander Sharff in 1822. Before WWI, one of the Kober family from Suhl joined, and his name was added to the company name.

The scabbard is straight throughout and still has almost all of the original blued finish. There is some wear on the edge, and typical aging related minor issues, but overall it is in very good condition, and fits nicely into the frog.

The frog itself is black leather, and still has most of the original black finish. It is not patent leather, as sometimes seen, but is still quite attractive, and fits the scabbard very well.

An excellent rare example of a German 98k Heer dress sawback bayonet, ready to display!