Original German WWII Metropolitan Police Long Dress Bayonet by Alexander Coppel with Scabbard, Frog, and Troddel - Matching Unit Markings

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic Matching Unit Marked Metropolitan Police Long Dress "Walking Out" Bayonet by Alexander Coppel of Solingen. It comes complete with its original nickel fitted black leather scabbard, a police NCO troddel knot, and correct black leather frog.

The handle of the bayonet is lovely nickel plated brass alloy, featuring a very nice decorated "Birds Head" pommel with a bayonet slot and functional lock, and an upswept cross guard decorated with oak leaves. The grip scales are made of beautiful stag horn with an aluminum police insignia firmly attached on one side. These are held in place with slotted screws, and show no wiggle at all, though the screws may be post war. Both cross guard and eagle’s head are in very good condition, with almost all of the original nickel plating still intact, with no areas of wear through we can see.

As with most police bayonets, there is a unit marking on the reverse guard of the bayonet:

S. Sch. II. 217

This would probably indicate issue to the Schutzpolizei (Protection Police) of the Schleswig district, Second Group, Officer 217. The same unit marking is stamped onto the back of the scabbard, so this is an original matched set.

The bayonet has a lovely approximately 33 cm (12.75 inches) long nickel plated steel blade, which was forged "cut-down" style, with the fuller running to the tip. Blade is nice and bright, of excellent quality, and still has over 95% of the original nickel plating, showing some scuffing and dents on the edge and spine. The leather buffer washer is unfortunately not present.

The blade ricasso is maker marked ALEXANDER COPPEL / SOLINGEN in arcs surrounding the firms trademark scales logo, with the firm's initials ACS interspersed. The same trademark scale logo, only larger, is present on the other side of the blade. This type of trademark was used on Police and other dress bayonets during the Weimar republic and up into the beginning of the NSDAP era, up until around 1940, per J. Anthony Carter's work GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS.

Alexander Coppel & Co. KG, Stahlwarenfabrik, was located in Solingen, the legendary German "City of Blades." The company was a major manufacturer of edged weapons and tools from the end of the 19th century up until the WWII period. Unfortunately, as NSDAP-control increased, brothers Carl Gustav and Dr. Alexander Coppel, the Jewish owners of the firm, were forced out. In 1936 the firm had been "Aryanized", and started using the name ALCOSO to hide the Jewish family name. By the end of 1936 the brothers were ejected from their Solingen offices, and by 1940 the brand trademark initials ACS were changed to AWS to reflect the change in ownership and name: Alexander Coppel Solingen to Alcoso-Werk Solingen. Carl Gustav Coppel committed suicide in Solingen in 1941, and Dr. Alexander Coppel was arrested in 1942 and sent to Theresienstadt Prison camp, where he died August 5th 1942.

The scabbard is made of fine black leather, fitted with heavily nickel plated brass alloy, and is in very good service used condition. The leather does show age and some degradation of the finish, but there is no major loss, and it really looks great. The fittings have a lovely polished patina, with some small areas of wear through to the base material, but still present very nicely. The black leather frog has white stitching and aluminum rivets with steel washers. It has a lovely matte finish which is very well retained, and we can see a faint maker mark on the back, which is unfortunately illegible.

Wrapped around it is a very good condition police NCO troddel knot, with a leather strap with three lines of silver metal thread, with the center one having a red thread in the middle. The end knot is silver bullion, with a tri color insert in the end.

This is a wonderful early war metropolitan police bayonet with scabbard, frog, and troddel knot! Ready to research and display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 13"
Blade Style: Single Edged with Fuller
Overall length: 17 1/2”
Crossguard: 2 1/4”
Scabbard Length: 14 1/2”