Posted 5 years ago
la90041
(1 item)
Tens years ago I inherited this sword or saber. I thought that the Chinese-American friend who owned it said that his father took it from a dead Japanese soldier after a battle. I believed that until recently when I saw what looked like a serial number on the upper part of the blade. It is clearly marked 877, but before those are what looks like the abbreviation for number: "No", with two small horizontal lines under the "o" in "No", indication abbreviation for "Number". How can this be Asian when the serial number has "No" which is English? The hilt appears to be brass, measuring 5.5 inches. It has a head of a bird, some type of raptor, maybe an eagle or falcon. The blade is probably made of steel. The entire length of the sword is 33 inches. If anyone can enlighten me about this weapon I would enjoy the comments. Thank you very much. Joe
Swords are not my strong point, but I agree about your observations. I lean toward French and maybe Prussian. Reminds me of these fake ex-Eastern block watches you see with U-boat markings, and then the back says, "Anti-magnetic", "Shock resistant", etc.. They actually sell those things ! This doesn't say Orient to me.
No from oriental country. May be Russian.
Thanks for responding. I just found a website, worthopedia, that had the same exact sword. It is not at all what I expected. The headline, exactly as it reads: "1840s Cutacha Spanish Cuban Sword with Scabbard Collins Germany Fernando Esser." And then it says: "It was a standard military pattern used by the Spanish Army in Cuba...they were sold to officers and not issued to EMs [enlisted military]. The no. 877 is the stock number and is deliberately referential to the Collins pattern #87...This was made by Fernando Esser in Elberfield, Germany. Cutachas were carried more as a symbol of office than as a weapon and were in civil life used by planters and overseers to whack surly peasants with..." This is not at all what I expected this sword to be, and, coincidentally, my last name is Collins. Thank you again taking the time to respond to my post. Joe Collins