This dagger was unearthed near Tampa Bay Florida in the early 1960s.

Overall Length: 16 3/8 inches
Overall Width: 2 3/8 inches
Hilt Length: 4 5/8 inches
Blade Length: 11 3/4 inches
Weight: 8 1/8 ounces

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Certainly a beautiful, but wicked dagger. Do you know the provenance of the piece? Does it reside in a local museum or personal collection?

Thanks, Jon

Hi Dana,

A nice piece, but I am just amazed looking at your collection of pieces, just how many high end daggers from the old world were lost and recovered in the new world - I just had no idea that so much had been recovered from the States.

Congratulations on having such a collection.

Tod

Hi Jon, This dagger was unearthed near Tampa Bay Florida in the early 1960s. I believe it belonged to one of Narvaez's men. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narv%C3%A1ez_expedition

My father Jack Williams was an early user of metal detectors. I need to put up some photos of what they looked like back them. He also owned an operated the Museum of Weapons in St. Augustine for many year. Now the dagger is in my private collection.

Thanks Tod, glad to hear you found the site. I have only posted a fraction of Dads edged weapon collection. Most of what is up there now are relic daggers from the early Spanish and French Colonial period. I'll be adding more. This year was the 450th anniversary of Charlesforts founding, next year is the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon's arrival in Florida, and In 2015 we will be celebrating 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine. I plan to exhibit many of these relic daggers at the Lightner Museum or the Historical Society. FYI to the moderators, they are not for sale!