Articles of the Gazette

All styles of fakes and copies (seen on the web)... (Gazette 16 - Article 9)

The first photo illustrates one of the models recently seen on E.Bay. Sold by a Chinese dealer, the Caption of the auction is “Sharp AK-47 Full Tang Jungle Survival Knife/Bayonet New”. At first glance, the title of the sale is contradictory with the photos of this bayonet. When looking at the photos we clearly see that it’s a newly made piece. The handle and the crossguard are Arisaka M30 looking but the blade and the scabbard are pure fantasy. The blade has an edge and false edge never seen on the Arisakas, the fuller is too completely different. The scabbard for it is vaguely looking like an US scabbard without the double hook and it is stamped AK-47 C.C.C.P.
It is not a copy but a brand new made one. It is captioned “NEW” so there is no voluntary forgery, but the advice is very ambiguous for an unadvised collector.
We can say that this bayonet is on the border between a copy and a fake...