A late war Richard Abr. Herder AG made S84/98III with maker code clc44. This piece is in the last letter block (H) for Richard Herder in 1944 and exhibits those very late war characteristics. Rough machining marks remain that have not been finished and the grips are made of the late red phenolic material. Also note the presence of slag and brazing material and the overall lack of finishing in the area of the frog stud plate. The serial number is one digit off; perhaps a factory mismatch. The blade is H3672, while the scabbard is H3671. Perhaps most interesting is the unusual double strike of the makers's stamping to the reverse blade ricasso. For whatever reason, the clc44 was stamped once in the normal center location and once askew and off to the left side of the ricasso. Rather unusual. Regardless, it was deemed acceptable as the reverse pommel bears a single stick wing WaA519 stamping.
