George Hancock and sons, Celebrated cutlery used Sheffield steel to make their blades. They were located in Sheffield, England. This very interesting “Ladies' garter dagger” was made by them around 1834. I got this about 25 years ago at an estate sale. I always thought that it was a letter opener, but wondered why it had such a sharp blade. I found one almost identical to this one on-line recently and found that it is indeed an actual dagger that women would attach to their garters for protection. The one I read about called the fittings “German steel”, but I think this one may be brass. The fittings are all tight and blade is very sharp with no nicks etc. and has a sharp point. The handle is some type of bone or horn. The sheath is leather and still has the brass tip and the garter stud that was attached by a chain or leather cord, but the leather is cracked and taped. This is a very cool collector's item and fun to keep on your dresser. These were sometimes also used by gamblers. This awesome antique is in great overall condition (see pics) and I have not tried to polish or clean it. Harry L. Parkhurst used these in illustrations he painted for some of his book covers. The dagger is 9 1/4” and the blade is about 4 1/2”.