Early SS Officer Degen with Bag-Vet Bring Back

This early SS officer degen was brought back to Pennsylvania by a veteran who served as a Sergeant in the United States Army during World War II and the sword is being publicly offered for sale here for the first time.
The degen was brought home inside of its original gray wool storage bag. The bag itself shows wear, with three holes in the fabric, primarily at the base of the bag. However, the bag served its critical intended function superbly, because the SS officer’s sword that was stored in the bag since 1945 is in absolutely wonderful condition.
This degen is of the initial production, in which the mounts are solid nickel that remain bright, and with an upper ferrule that is built into the “D” guard of the sword. The lower ferrule has excellent detail and intact blackening to the leaves and acorn decorative pattern. The black lacquered grip is similarly in excellent condition, with only small specks where the lacquer has worn to reveal the wood beneath. This is primarily evident on the reverse of the grip adjacent to the nickel spine. The runes insignia of the grip has excellent detail and the blackening of the insignia would rate at approximately 95 percent intact.
Both the underside of the sword guard and the top of the scabbard throat have the SS runes proof marks. The blade is unmarked by any manufacturer, with the white leather washer intact. The blade itself, which measures approximately 34 inches in length, has the typical matte finish and, like the sword itself, is in excellent condition and free of any nicks or pitting.
The scabbard throat and drag decorations have fine detail and intact blackening, with only minor traces of wear. The gloss black scabbard paint has no spider cracks or other detriments and would have to be rated as perhaps 95% or better intact. There is a small “dimple” on the reverse of the scabbard, approximately 9 1/2 inches from the bottom. This is probably an example of the often described “caught in the train door” effect, but there is no paint loss on the scabbard where it is located and the dimple is primarily observable when the light catches the scabbard at a certain angle.
Overall an exceptionally clean and impressive example of an early SS Officer’s degen, brought back to Pennsylvania as a souvenir by a World War II Army veteran within its original cloth storage bag, which in fact remains with the sword to this day.