East German Honour Dagger

[nnicclaas]

Hello again,
Today i was browsing a german auction side and came across this "AK 47 Bajonett DDR NVA General Ehrengeschenk" which translates to "AK 47 bayonet GDR NVA General Honourpresent" and when i looked at this auction weas at a loss because i had never seen such an item before.
Has anybody else any knowledge of the item that is for sale here ?
The description states that "this AK 47 bayonet was made with a deer horn handle and was a Present to a "Generalmajor" Major genral of the Nationale Volksarmee, either a unique piece or a small production series ".
It also has a leather sheath.
As far as i can idenrify it it seems to use an AKM bayonet style of bowie blade with the sawteeth and the overall length seems to match up with an AKM type 1 bayonet.
It also has a leather sheath.
I personally would belive this to be a fake but im definetly not certain at that. For me atleast it seems very far fetched that such an honour dagger would be produced, when there are such more widely used patterns availiabe.
The asking price this thing sells for is also 800€ so i would assume someone wants to sell this , granted, nice handmade repurposing of an AKM bayonet blade for much money.

[nnicclaas]

Just to add the last picture from the listing.

[furtium]

Agreed, fake.

[Mr. B.]

Not sure if "Fake" is the right word. Fake what? It's not a bayonet, a fighting knife, or a hunting knife. Pretty low quality for a commemorative or presentation piece. A low quality mass produced blade from a bayonet with imitation horn grip panels and chunky brass(?) pommel and cross guard. I do wonder how the hilt appears to have a full length tang, the AKM blades do not. The leather scabbard also appears to be a very plain basic variety, could even be homemade. The whole thing looks like a cheap DIY, (Do It Yourself), build a hunting knife kit.

Not too bad for an amateur low cost metal craft hobby project though!? Maybe made by some retired Major General therefore the story and price?

Mike

[nnicclaas]

As fake i would probably associate the backstory, that this was allegedly specially made for presentation purposes to an high ranking army offical.

[mill_speer]

Well, the GDR had significantly higher-quality excellent honor gifts for high-ranking officers. Without an inscription about the reason for the award, these would also be relatively meaningless.
What is offered there for 800 € is good enough for a simple soldier but also meaningless without an inscription.
From a neutral point of view, it's a well-made knife.
Of course there are also worse and higher quality knives with AK bayonet blades.

Best regards.
G.

Na Ja, die DDR hatte bedeutend hochwertigere exelente Ehrengeschenke für hochrangige Offiziere. Ohne Inschrift über den Anlass der Ehrung wären diese auch relativ bedeutungslos.
Das was da für 800€ angeboten wird ist gut genug für einen einfachen Soldaten aber ohne hinweisende Inschrift auch bedeutungslos.
Neutral betrachtet ist es ein gut gemachtes Messer.
Es gibt natürlich auch schlechtere und hochwertiger Messer mit AK-Bajonett Klingen.

[nnicclaas]

Thanks for all the helpful responses.
Just to update, this item has sold for 400 €