Help with this dagger

[Ian]

Welcome Francisco:

As others have said this item is purely "decorative" and of recent manufacture. Much of it could be made from plastic, as noted by Josh, although the "blade" may be bone or possibly ivory as it seems to be a different color from the rest of the ensemble.

When starting out collecting, I think it is important to have a plan and perhaps to focus on one or two fairly clear goals. It is easy to get addicted to buying sharp and pointy things and end up owning a lot of diverse items with no particular theme. Focusing on a discrete geographical area or a particular group of people helps build expertise in that field, and we become more comfortable and confident in our decisions. That said, even the very experienced sometimes make mistakes.

We all learn by our mistakes, and we all probably have items that we wished we did not pay so much for (although we may be reluctant to admit that ). Sometimes it is worth taking a calculated risk in the hope that a low priced item is something special, and sometimes we really luck out (but that is not usually the case ).

So, welcome again to this fascinating field of ours and I hope you will continue to contribute for many years to come.

Ian.