Presented is a nice gold rush era dirk or dagger, pre civil war period. Tang is marked G. Woodhead Sheffield Warranted inside a banner. This is one of the early stampings. Goins book list G. Woodhead in operation from 1845 to 1862 . The knife is 8 3/16" long and the blade is 4 3/16" long. The oval guard is German silver and the cutlery handle is probably the same. Handle is in great condition with no splits or major dings. This type of silver handle was used from the pre civil war period up to and thru the 1870's. The blade is double edged and has been lightly sharpened over the last 150 odd years but not abused and has a few corrosion spots and light sharpening marks. It comes with a sheath.