Item was sold at a popular auction company that caters primarily to firearms. I am in to WWII firearms as well, so it was a big surprise for me to just stumble across this one on the Rock Island website. The sunface, 3 stars in triangle make it an obvious give away for a 1st Republic/Katipunan dagger.
Sorry to say I didn't win this. They estimated the daggers value of being $2500-4000...so I didn't even try. Wish I could of past this on to someone else but I just found this auction and didn't catch the deadline, and I been extremely busy taking care of a family emergency. Sad really because this dagger was mislabeled and the item sold for $750. Says it sold "on the floor" and the buyer had to also pay a buyers premium($146), plus taxes and fee...all in all +$1000 out the door. With the estimated price range they gave, I thought that is where they start...I never used Rock Island auction so I didn't even know they start the auctions off at $1. As you can see from the photos, this one is exceptional. The designs are typical, but the ivory handles really sets this dagger apart from all others...rare to see any Filipino(non-Moro) style blade with ivory. I hope to God the buyer/collector knows what he got. It would be extremely sad to know this piece of Philippine history went to a buyer who goes on with the rest of his life thinking it is an early American Masonic dagger from the 1830s. Dagger listing information:
Very Early Large Masonic American Dagger with Scabbard
Description:The single fuller blade measures 9 1/4" long. Fancy silver hilt with fluted ivory handle. No maker markings. OAL: 13 3/4". Circa 1835 leather sheath with engraved silver throat and tip. The throat is engraved with a masonic emblem: a sun and three stars within a triangle.
Condition: Fine. The blade has some mild spotting and pitting with a few light chips. The ivory handle shows a very even mellow patina and has a couple missing minor chips and some minor handling marks. Scabbard is good with minor flex wear with some flaking.
