Gents,

I have a question about a Government Official dagger. I am looking at at a late Alcoso GO with with the last sideways trademark. The scabbard appears correct but I am not familiar with the blade runners on these. This dagger has the metal blade runners riveted to the throatpiece in such a manner that the tops are visible when looking into the throat. That is to say the smooth finished rivet and the top of the metal runner is toward the blade as opposed to being sandwiched between the throatpiece and the scabbard body. Is this normal for these late Alcoso daggers?

Getting a photo of the interior of the scabbard is impossible. Here is the throat. You can barely see the edge of the metal runner inside the throat.

The scabbard has considerable age patina and seems to have been wire brushed at some time in its life. The bands are correct and the obverse acorn is visible in the lower left quadrant of the scabbard bands.

Overall view of the dagger.

Trademark and back of crossguard.

View of the front of the guard.

Hello, all what I can see in these pics does look totally ok and legit for a late ALCOSO gov dagger to me.
Unfortunately I do not have my daggers around me (I have a late period diplo, naturally by ALCOSO, therefore the same trademark) so I cannot look how it´s runners are attached.
But as also the scabbard does look totally legit, those iron (due to rust) scabbard bands and iron ring holders are typically for period items, never have seen iron ones on fakes, I would highly assume that the whole dagger is ok and would not concern about the attachment of the runners.
Although unfortunately (I am sure you do know yourself ) the dagger is in a very bad condition.
Regards,

Wotan,

Thanks for looking and commenting on this GO. The dagger has not aged gracefully over the years I am afraid but it is what it is.

The consolation with this dagger is that it is complete with the proper small Portepee and the hanger. Life is a trade-off.