Just as a heads up, I saw a rather convincing fake SA Rohm at the SOS that made me stop and check. An Early Eickhorn Double oval TM (squrril was etched out on the inside-like a 35 to 41 TM which is wrong, but hard to see at a glance), nickel silver fittings with Eickhorn assembler mark. Proper grip with nickel silver eagle.
Blade was very good. Well polished, but the SA motto was one letter further down the blade. The Rohm dedication location was correct and the etching was very good. Color of the blade was a shade off and the depth of the etching was A LITTLE SHALLOW, but you had to have an original to catch this.
Now, for the big give-away: the tang had the crossed-keys marking.
So be alert as to the newest generation of fakes.
JMO,
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria

They must have found some of those original unmarked HERDER BLADES with tang marking and put the Eickhorn Trade mark and the Rohm inscription on. Life is tough.

Gailen David

I saw that one too, very scary, and of course the price was tempting.

John: It's a jungle out there! I really feel sorry for the collector starting out. They have to be scared to death.

Gailen

I tell you. I just started collecting no too long ago, at first I was very excited but the more I lern the more nerve racking it is. I havent read enough books or seen with my own eyes real enough items. if I wasent as passionet about this hobbie as I am I would have given up along time ago, and what makes it hard for me is that Im infatuated with rohm daggers and honor rings. god help my ol lady if I ever win the lotto lol

Well, glad to have you and your expensive taste.


Gailen David

lol thanks I just wish I had the money to feed my taste. the history that these items have seen and were apart of is overwhelming. when I found out one of my dagger blades was a ground rohm (thanks to the guys here at gdc) my breath was taken away. I remember lerning about night of the long knives in high school. to have a blade that was there in the storys I lernd about in school 60 years after the fact. its an amazing feeling.

It seems that the fakers are getting much better at their trade now more than ever. Back in the 60s and people like Gailen I think would agree with me, fake combat badges for example were laughable, cheaply made pieces that anyone could tell were copies. Now you have people like this afrika hero who are really putting out some scary, almost perfect pieces. A very tough time to start collecting TR items. My only suggestion for the new collector is to post clear pics of the item that you are interested in here on GDC or the WA forum for opinions. There are a lot of knowledgeable folks on both forums that can help you avoid a costly mistake.

Hi,I have encountered the cross keys tang mark on a put together a fake thirty six ss chain dagger. Ironicly my 33 herder tm S.A. does not have cross keys on the tang .It was vet obtained and salty to say the least. Is it reasonable to suggest that mottos may have been applied post war to genuine blanks discovered from an old stock.The emeregence of the Botched S.A rhom fake surely points to the existance of such blanks ?