Bulgaria, People's Republic. An Army Officer Cadet's Ceremonial Dagger

Dagger with a silvered steel blade, magnetic, with dull edges and a semi-sharp tip, the blade exhibiting marks and surface wear common to extraction from the scabbard, along with contact marks, the blade measuring 233 mm in length. The s-shaped crossguard in brass, the handle in bronze gilt and bearing an interlocking wavy pattern in the centre on both sides, flanked by imitation bone inlays on either side, the pommel in brass and finished with a large five-pointed Communist star on a dimpled background within a circular frame, the dagger measuring 328 mm in length. The accompanying scabbard in silvered metal, magnetic, the three fittings in bronze gilt, the locket illustrating a Bulgarian lion with a sunrise in the background on the obverse, the reverse of the locket illustrating the Bulgarian Communist Party Headquarters in Sofia, the central band plain, the chape with a snub-nosed finial, both the central band and the chape bearing rings and incorporating chains and a clip in brass forming the dagger hangers, the scabbard measuring 250 mm in length, exhibiting a dent on the obverse just below the central band, along with gilt wear evident on the three fittings, with contact marks overall. Fine.