WW2 Floyd Nichols fighting knife

When i started collecting knives, i took every knife i could put my hands on, my collection had no real direction, until i found that for me the the real joy is finding a named knife, a knife that i can attribute to a specific soldier. There is an added dimension when you know who held the knife and you can research the fights they took parts in and the units they were belong to. Its almost as though , a new world that has been closed so far is open up, like the old saying "if only the knife could talk".

since then i added a few named knives in to my collection, some are very rare, and some have history behind them, these knives  are the core of my collection.

Personally I'm not a big fan of knives that are in a mint condition, most likely i will pick a well used knife with name associated with over a mint condition nameless knife, i guess it depends on each collector's preference.

Here is new knife i added a few months ago with the help of a good friend and collector. Not many collectors are aware of this knives, its known mainly in the North America's market. this knives were not mas-produced, it believed that only around 1300 or so where made, hand crafted in David City NE.

This knife for example is one of the early produces knives one , i believe its early production based on the 1937 Indian coin on the pommel,  later on the coin on the pommel was replaced with a stamp that said, "NICHOLS DAVID CITY NEBR".

Part of the reason these knives are unique is the fact that the sheath and the knife are hand made .
each sheath made for a specific knife, and is an integral part of the knife from day one. The sheaths were made by Alfred Cornish from Omaha.
my knife came from LT Col(M,B) served with his knife in WW 2 and in Korea War During WW 2 he served in the US 507th PIR of the 82nd Airborne Division and lost the tip of the knife on D-DAY. (I'm not using the full name as using it involves getting the family's permission)
       
               

Complete Set the name on the cross guard and named sheath 

Special marking on the sheath it self is the 82nd sign makes it very unique 

The Early Indian Head Coin