Help! I really could use your help in identifying this arabian(?) dagger

[Rick]

That's what it's called . It's Morroccan in origin .

Now the quality of this piece lies in the blade ; if it is made from stout stock , tightly mounted to the handle , and the unground side of the blade is 'sharp' not rebated it might be a decent everyday example .

If it is unsharpened it is more likely to be a souvenir quality dagger .

I would guess it to be at the oldest late 19th to mid 20thC ; you may be able to determine this from the source you bought it from i.e. some Granny's attic etc.
I'll guess it at about WWII .
There are tons of these around some quite good some average and some cruddy junk made for "One who travels for pleasure"

In my opinion any good quality blade is worth restoring .
If it's schlock then just unload it .

In the end you will have to decide the quality because , of course, it's in your possesion .

As a side note regarding the engraving ; I have a very old Nimcha (from Algeria most likely) which has a 17th century English backsword blade and a massive Rhino horn hilt that has only average quality engraving on its hilt ring .
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=nimcha