M9 help?

[porterkids]

In 1990-91 the Franklin Mint made a Desert Storm Commemorative plaque with a fake M16 barrel and an M9 bayonet. The plaque was similar to the Phrobis plaque but not the same quality. It had all the flags of the coalition nations on it.

When the first advertisement showed up in magazines it clearly pictured an M9 bayonet with the markings "M9" over "MARTO" on the left ricasso. At this point in time, Buck was the only company licensed to sell the M9 bayonet in the US. Marto was making component parts for Phrobis at the time and was also manufacturing M9 bayonets for commercial sales in Europe. Apparently the magazine ad caused a little stir, and the plaques were delivered with bayonets simply marked "M9" on the left ricasso and the US Patent information on the right ricasso. I have one of these that I bought from Franklin Mint at the time, still new in the shipping box.

I don't know how many of the plaques were actually made. I contacted Franklin Mint but no one there was able to give me any information on the number of plaques they had made. They ended up with more bayonets than plaques, so they sold them on the commercial market. The original plaque did not have a scabbard. They paired the bayonets up with Phrobis scabbards but there was a slight difference. The scabbards did not have a Bianchi clip on the belt end of the webbing. It had a simple loop of web material with a snap. I haven't seen very many of these bayonets and scabbards.