Jump to content

For the New Collectors- Study, Study, Study !


SKIPH
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hey Gang! Just found this Aerial "blade-dated" M3 on ebay.Ebay item # 174075920239. What's wrong with this you say? Aerial never produced "blade-dated" M3s. They made blade stamped, and guard stamped "ACC" M3 trench knives. I don't know the seller, but he states in his ad, "Jaeger Bros. Aerial knife WW II, 1943 M3 Fighting knife". He also states "Jaeger Bros." owned "Aerial", that I don't know. He also states he has 13 "Aerial" knives for sale, (only 1 M3 that I saw"). Anyway, don't get fooled or over anxious to be the owner of an Aerial blade-dated M3. Again, study your hobby! If someone could post this ad it would be appreciated. THX SKIP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at the knife, and comparing to other Aerial M3s, I see some differences. I could be wrong, but the back cut in the ad appears to be almost a 90* angle, where as most have a slightly more rounded one. Also the Aerial blade stamp is a lot closer to the guard than is normally seen. The handle looks about right, and so is the duel pommel pins. I can't figure this one. The seller said he was selling all the knives at a $49.95 start price. I just have to go with at date, and maybe the Aerial stamp as some type of enhancement. What are other observations, or opinions? SKIP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 3 in the date and in M3 look different to me in shape. Close, but not exact and I would expect them to be exact. This is looking on my phone and not in hand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it me or does the distance of the "U.S. M3" from the guard look shorter on this knife than the examples in my references?

Don't know what to make of this one, but I wouldn't expect it to take more than 75 years to find the first blade dated Aerial.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi folks,

What do you think was the history of this knife? If the entire blade mark is spurious, then was it originally sterile? Is the majority opinion that just the date has been added to this M3? If you look at the reverse side of the blade, it is pitted and polished, yet the obverse is polished too but the markings seem too crisp to be original; especially the "1943".

Marv

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marv- I'm kinda at a loss myself. The Aerial stamp is about the deepest, most crisp, that I have ever seen, the date of course is a huge NO GO. The knife looks like an Aerial. The seller is from the Wisconsin area, maybe he got a hold of some old Aerial stamps. Don't know. But, most of the other knives he's selling are Aerial. It may have been aftermarket, Aerial did some pretty cool modifications after WW2 to former M3s. All we can do is speculate. SKIP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be clear I have no intention of trying to in anyway give an impression of legitimacy here.

The location of the "U.S. M3" is similar to what you see on blade dated and blade marked PAL M3's. Most other M3's the location of the "U.S.M3" is more consistently located closer to the guard in both dated and marked blades.

As a probable non original curiosity, I wouldn't be opposed to having it my collection for the right price. Keeping in mind I tend towards cheap. :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

That Aerial blade-dated M3 came up again on ebay, item # 402021888998. Same one we discussed before. Looks like the buyer figured out there were no blade-dated Aerials. He has a starting price of $800, more than the $787.77 that he paid for it. Assuming this was the buyer. Can't keep harping on study your hobby. Hate to see folks get burned. SKIP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to know information. It appears based on his "other items for sale", that the guy is a dealer, or selling off a collection. But, as AustinO pointed out it was the same guy. THX SKIP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...