Don Gwinn
Moderator Emeritus
My dad bought a saber at the auction the other day for $60. Basically dad is the "knife expert" at the auction, which is a weekly small-town auction with a large set of regulars, of whom a few are the regular gun guys. They asked him what he thought, and he told them he thought it was a well-made replica.
None of them bid on it, so he asked me what I thought.
Now I'm asking you what you think.
(Don't worry, I'm going to hedge my bets at SwordForum.)
I tend to agree with Dad, for these reasons:
1. The thing is well made, at least by replica standards, but it has no edge and shows no evidence that it ever had one.
2. It bears no maker's mark whatsoever.
3. The mark it does have suggests American artillery, but the sword didn't match any such U.S. sword I could find online.
The mark is pictured below, but not well. You can see a cannon, what looks like it might be a bore swab for the old black powder cannon, a blank field flag or standard on a pike, and in the center, there's a shield. The shield is the type commonly seen on U.S. seals--the top half of the shield is a field of stars, the bottom is vertical stripes that suggest the horizontal stripes on the flag. No words.
Now, here's what's odd. It seems very well made for a replica, and it does seem to show age. I think it may have been purely a display item, but may still be fairly old.
1. It seems to be a manufactured item, not custom.
2. The blade is carbon steel of spring temper; it will flex pretty far without taking a set.
3. The blade is ground with a consistent distal taper from the hilt to the tip. This, along with the heat treat, seems like a lot of extra work on a wall hanger.
4. The balance is good and it feels lively in the hand.
5. The hilt, backstrap and pommel are brass. The grip, which may or may not have lost some cord or wire wrappings from the grooves, looks like aged ivory. I'm not an expert; it could be bone.
6. The hilt is solid and the whole thing is held together by peening of the tang at the pommel. There are no nuts or threaded pieces.
So, any idea what this thing is and what it was for?
None of them bid on it, so he asked me what I thought.
Now I'm asking you what you think.
(Don't worry, I'm going to hedge my bets at SwordForum.)I tend to agree with Dad, for these reasons:
1. The thing is well made, at least by replica standards, but it has no edge and shows no evidence that it ever had one.
2. It bears no maker's mark whatsoever.
3. The mark it does have suggests American artillery, but the sword didn't match any such U.S. sword I could find online.
The mark is pictured below, but not well. You can see a cannon, what looks like it might be a bore swab for the old black powder cannon, a blank field flag or standard on a pike, and in the center, there's a shield. The shield is the type commonly seen on U.S. seals--the top half of the shield is a field of stars, the bottom is vertical stripes that suggest the horizontal stripes on the flag. No words.
Now, here's what's odd. It seems very well made for a replica, and it does seem to show age. I think it may have been purely a display item, but may still be fairly old.
1. It seems to be a manufactured item, not custom.
2. The blade is carbon steel of spring temper; it will flex pretty far without taking a set.
3. The blade is ground with a consistent distal taper from the hilt to the tip. This, along with the heat treat, seems like a lot of extra work on a wall hanger.
4. The balance is good and it feels lively in the hand.
5. The hilt, backstrap and pommel are brass. The grip, which may or may not have lost some cord or wire wrappings from the grooves, looks like aged ivory. I'm not an expert; it could be bone.
6. The hilt is solid and the whole thing is held together by peening of the tang at the pommel. There are no nuts or threaded pieces.
So, any idea what this thing is and what it was for?
