I saw what a dealer refered to as a ground Rohm SS dagger at a gun show the other day and the back of the guard on this SS dagger was stamped III, what does that signify?

val, S/S daggers went from the manufacturers to three distribution centers in Munich, Dresden, and Berlin. If they were approved, they were stamped I Munich, II Dresden, III Berlin, then distributed. Hope this helps! Regards, Leipzig

Yes it does. I wish I knew more about these. This dagger was at a local gun show being sold by a retiring collector. He called it a ground Rohm. It looked in decent shape and appeared real to my very, very inexperienced eye. It seemed legit and so did he, cliamed he got it from a vet. He wanted $1000 for it. It was black handled and had the SS emblem on it. Man, I need to get some books or something, I am clueless. I bought a Eickhorn Army Officers dagger 2 minutes before the guy with the SS dagger appeared, and spent $500 on a dagger wirth about $300 on a good day. I guess it's a lesson learned.

Try Wittmans page he has good books http://daggers.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/728099473/m/2220079365
I ordered the SS book..

Valhalla,
Depending on the condition of your Army, $500 might not have been that bad. If she's in rough shape, then yea, you might have gotten taken a bit. If she's a nice example than $500 is not unheard of by any stretch of the imagination. That's in the typical range of a nice Heer saber...even though I'm usually able to score them for less from various sources. I'd be interested in seeing your Army. Beside, if the guy who was selling the Type III was "an experienced retiring" collector, 1K sounds way too low..which in and of itself raises suspicions.

Either way, buy the books. At the bear minimum, it'll make for good reading and provide a historical glimpse into edged weapons of the time..even if you choose never to buy an SS piece. I like to buy the books, even if i'll never own some of the stuff. Many of the guys who write the books I know personally and consider them as both peers/friends, hence supporting thier effort of writing the book in a financial sense. Some of the authors are small time guys who wrote the books as a contribution, rather a "get rich" scheme which won't happen from thier book.

Tom