CAN marked scabbards.
In 1944 "CAN" (a subcontract manufacturer) marked scabbards were used by the makers asw (E.u.F Hörster) and fnj(Coppel Gmbh).
The asw CAN scabbards are marked on the frog stud side of the scabbard, the CAN was ground out to a greater or lesser extent and the asw serial stamped in the location of the original CAN marking. from discussions on the BCN forum it would appear that these scabbards appear in the p, t and u blocks of the serial blocks produced meaning they usually appear in the dual dated 43/44 asw range bayonets. There is no way of identifying CAN scabbards except from the grinding marks above the stud and residual CAN marks in this area but grinding on its own is not enough as it may be to correct serial renumbering etc..
The fnj CAN scabbards are marked on the opposite face of the scabbard to the asw ones, and are usually found clearly marked
CAN made scabbard for asw grinding has removed A and partially obscured the C and the N
CAN made scabbard for asw grinding has removed all but the A from CAN
oldsmithy collection
CAN made scabbard for fnj made bayonet, there is no fnj mark on the scabbard nor a date only the serial in the normal location on the frog stud side of the scabbard
oldsmithy collection
Tr MARKED BAYONETS
In 1941 crs ( P.Weyersberg) made a series of bayonets with Tr marked serials, it is not know why these bayonets are so marked. Some bayonets can be found without the crs makers mark or with it.
oldsmithy collection
42/43 ab MARKED DUAL DATE$
There are several documented dual dated bayonet scabbard combinations, with the bayonet and scabbard having matching serials but different dates, the 43/44 asw is probably the best known with around 75,000 probably made. This one is by ab (Mundlos). These combinations will probably be due to differences in production runs
Matching serials but 43 dated scabbard and 42 dated bayonet
38/37 DURKOPP MARKED DUAL DATE
Most of the dual dates are from the period 1943 and 1944 but earlier examples can be found. This one is made by DURKOPP
Matching serials but in this case a 1937 marked scabbard has been matched with a 1938 made bayonet.
1943 aws Horster DUAL DATED
In 1944 aws made some 75,000 bayonets in the letter blocks o to u, with 1943 dated blades and 1944 dated scabbards
43asw marked blade in matching 44asw scabbard.
1941 ab Mundlos/aws Horster DUAL MAKER
In 1941 Mundlos made at a series of bayonets matched to Horster made scabbards
ab (Mundlos) made bayonet in an aws (Horster) made scabbard. A limited number of bayonets in 1941 were fitted with Horster made scabbards at manufacture as they have matching numbers.
oldsmithy collection
1939 HORSTER/EICKHORN DUAL MAKER
In 1939 Horster made at least one bayonet with an Eickhorn scabbard
Matching serial numbers on blade and scabbard. There are no signs of grinding on either piece so serials were not changed, the serial numbers on each piece appeared to be identical and not a put together item.
omc marked bayonet matching with dual dates.
Spine is double dated 39/40, matching omc's are not common early war and low manufacture makes them hard to find
1941 fze NON STANDARD MARKED SERIAL
This fze made bayonet hasn't got the block letter under the serial as is the normal case.
The block letter on the bayonet has been placed under the date rather than the serial as is the normal case. Again this is a matching blade/scabbard combination so is a period piece.
1943 COF WITH LEADING ZERO
Not one that I have observed before, it is not common for serials to have leading zeros "0" to give a four digit number even for those less than 1000
1943 COF WITH STAR MARKING
The star marking has been discussed often on several forums, the consensus seems to be that the mark is an acceptance mark for an item that originally failed to meet requirements
RP (REICH POST) MARKED BAYONETS
Commercial bayonets issued to the post office police force during WWII, by late in the war these units were put under SS control, so in some ways the late ones may be the only truly marked SS 84/98's that you can buy
My RP marked bayonet is currently the highest known serial at 14727, Les's RP is serialed 8160. Comparing the quality of the manufacture with that of other 84/98's my example is at the earliest late 1943 or 1944, whilst Les's example (6,500 bayonets or a few days production) is 1941 or 1942, this shows that these bayonets were bought over several distinct orders and not one big contract.
REWORK SERIALS?
To keep bayonets and scabbards together during refurbishment it appears that a small number may have been used on the bayonet and the scabbard to ease keeping the items together, rather than having to remember long serials it would be much easier to remember 27 or 33. Les's collection had two bayonets on which these small number were marked on frog stud and bayonet. If this theory is incorrect I would appreciate any other ideas.
27
33
MARINE MARKED WuK's
1930 WuK made bayonet with a Marine inspection mark on the cross guard
Ma H marked 1929 WuK, unit marked bayonets post WWI are not common
1929 WuK with Marine (crown over M) and two different Spandau inspection marks on the spine, pommel only marked with the Spandau one
NR MARKED POMMEL
Not sure what the NR marking is for any help?
Has all normal inspection marks for a German issue 84/98
COMMERCIAL WITH ORIGINAL MILITARY MARKS REMOVED
Interesting piece, there is evidence that this was originally makers marked and inspection stamped but these were removed before the final finishing of the piece
Horster made bayonet with original markings removed.
bym MATERIAL CHANGES
In 1944 there appears to have been a change in materials used to make the pommels on the bym manufactured bayonets. Later versions show a peculier corrosion attack the to pommels (seen on several pieces), that blades made earlier in 44 do not show. I have one of the damaged hilt pommels in my collection
22,000 difference in production the late E block bayonet shows a differences in manufacturing materials between the, additionally the later block only shows a 4 on the spine and not the 44 seen on the earlier made examples. My own example has the same single 4 on the spine.
bym Serial
In the above 1944 bayonets bym used the same serial number system used by all manufacturers, in their early production the serial was a more complicated double number production number system unique to them, the lower number being a block designation much the same as the letter used by other manufacturers
59217
297
NONE STANDARD GRINDING
Only obvious from a spine inspection, this bayonet shows a lack of control not normally noted on German bayonets of this period
Peculiarity in ricasso markings was noted but only on inspection of the spine was the reason obvious
NO FLASH GUARD AND NO MAKERS MARK
An interesting research piece, this has a serial but no makers mark and has never had a flash guard fitted, comparison of dates, the WaA inspection mark and production serials from databases held by 84/98 collectors showed it to be an S/185 made (Elite Diament) bayonet, but no reason for the lack of flashguard was found
