My Collection
American Swords
M1818 Starr Cavalry Saber,
dated 1821 on the guard.
The marks on the blade are
"US/P/ET/N.Starr," in four lines. The P means proved,
and ET stands for Elisha Tobey (according to Bezdek). Unfortunately, I
don't have its scabbard. This model was intended for use by state
militias, and only 10,600 were made.
M1840 Light Artillery Saber. Like most others, this was made
by Ames under Gov't contract. The markings on the front of the ricasso
are "AMESMFG.CO./CABOTVILLE/1849," and on the back are "US/WD." The
Pommel also has the inspection stamps of WD and JWR. The stamp on the
drag of the (first model) scabbard has been worn beyond reading. The
inspection marks are by William Dickinson and James Reilly. In the
lifetime of this model, 24,602 were made. In 1849, only 500 were made,
making this year fairly rare. The blade markings are all clear due to
the fact that the first model scabbards didn't have a collar in the throat.
This sword is in great shape, has a few nicks on the edge, and probably
saw action in the Civil War.
M1840 Heavy
Cavalry Saber. The maker's mark is a knights helmet
stamped into the ricasso, which was used by W.R. Kirschbaum of Solingen,
Germany. The front edge of the drag also has the Roman numerals VIII
and II cut into it, and the letter E stamped into it. The Confederates
were known to use Roman numerals in their rack marks, but they usually
marked the guard. This importer sold to both the north and south during
the Civil War, so the sword may be either Union or Confederate.
M1840 NCO Sword, all marks are worn off the blade, but the guard is stamped FSS, and another S further down. FSS was Francis Strong, who to the best of my knowledge inspected for C. Roby from 1862-63, thus making this sword a Roby sword. The grip, pommel, and knuckle bow near the pommel all have the number 22 stamped into them. The condition overall is pretty good, but there is no scabbard.
M1840 NCO or Musician Sword, marked Ames Mfg. Co./Cabotville/1849 on one side and US/WD on the other. The guard is marked WD and JWR on the knuckle bow, for William Dickenson and James W. Reilly. The blade is the length of the NCO sword, but the guard appears to be a musician sword guard. The tang also appears to have been filed but has been rusted over and the capstan has a dark patina. My guess is that the guard was either cut down to be more maneageable, or to turn an NCO sword into a musician sword, or two swords from 1849 had their handle and blade matched up. The blade has been cleaned (always ask questions before buying on eBay!), and unfortunately has no scabbard.
M1850
Foot Officer's Saber, imported with no maker's mark.
The blade still shows most of the original etching, including the
large US. The scabbard is intact, but the leather has been broken
at the drag and mended. The seam up the back of the scabbard has
opened where the thread rotted away.
M1870 Ames Navy Bayonet for the Remington Rolling Block Rifle. The
Ames marks have completely worn away (following Ames's reputation for weak stamps), but US/GGS/1870 is faintly visible on the other side. The pommel is stamped JGH (or JGK), the spring clip is stamped GGS (G.G. Saunders), and the quillon has an S stamped on it. The blade has some shallow pitting, but overall the condition is nice and the clip attachment still works. No scabbard, unfortunately, but always looking for one. This really isn't a sword, but I've seen the blades remounted as short swords, so I'm listing it
as a sword. Only 10k of these were made, 6k of them in 1870.
M1872 Cavalry
Officer's Saber, also imported with no mark.
Fairly rusty scabbard, bent guard, and split handle. It does have its
original knot, though. A fixer-upper, and maybe I'll do that some
day.
M1906
Steel-hilted Cavalry Saber, with the markings "A.S.Co.,"
a flaming bomb, and "1906" on one side of the ricasso, and "US/J.H.C"
on the other. The rack number 51 is stamped into the guard.
The ASCo stands for Ames Sword Company, and the JHC may stand for
James Clancy (according to Dixie Gun Works). I traded the M1860 scabbard
that came with it for the correct model of scabbard, still blackened. Only 18,961 M1906's were
made, all in 1906.
M1913
Cavalry Sword ('Patton' model), dated 1914 on the blade.
Made by the Springfield Armory, the blade marks are "US" and "24359" on
one side and "S (flaming bomb) A" and "1914" on the other. The scabbard
is steel-mounted wood covered with khaki canvas. In that year, the
armory made 24,799 of these swords, placing mine near the end of that
production run.
M1917
Naval Cutlass, second style. This is the one with the guard
cut into the three-bar style. It still has all of the original blueing
and its original scabbard. Not surprisingly, there wasn't much need
for swords in 1917 and the sword is in nice shape.
M1902 Army Officer Saber. The current model, made in Germany
and imported by American Military Supply Corp., NY. Probably about
WWII era.
USMC Officer's Saber
. Also the current model, made in Japan
by people who know how to make swords. This one has its
original leather knot and carrying bag.
Misc. US stuff: An unmounted M1850 blade by Horstmann with clear etchings (I'm looking for parts if you've seen some), the throat and middle mounts for an M1850 foot officer's scabbard, the throat for an M1840 NCO or musician sword, an M1913 wooden practice blade with a heavily padded practice glove, and two 16" sections of cavalry saber blades that were cut up to be made into fighting knives for WWII but never got beyond being chopped up.
European Swords
English Smallsword,
no scabbard, c.1770. The hilt is pierced and
faceted steel, and some faint etching remains on the blade. Truly
beatiful, also quite an adventure to get through Heathrow airport.
German Artillery
Saber, late version 1848
pattern, by E&F Horster, Solingen. Every component piece of the sword
has the Bavarian proof mark of a crown over a Gothic letter B. The
blade also has a crown over the Gothic letter W and the number 09 beneath
that, dating this one to 1909. The guard and the scabbard both have the
matching rack marks "55. A. 4. 87," for the 55th field artillery reg't,
4th platoon, sword #87. This piece was deaccessioned from the
Cheney-Cowles museum in Spokane a few years ago, and may have seen
service in WWI.
German(?) hanger
or short saber, c.1800s. The standard Napoleonic design of hanger,
with a cast brass guard and a simple, no-nonsense blade. The rack
marks on the blade are 489 and a mark that looks something like a crown over two overlapping 'A's.
The scabbard is more of a German design rather than a French design, so
I'm listing this as German.
An unidentified European
societal sword, c1800s(?). Has a straight,
unsharpened blade, brass mounted leather-over-wood scabbard, and three-lobed
(almost clover shaped) pommel and quillon terminals. The tang has
the cursive letters JL stamped onto the face, as well as the typwriter
style letters PY(?) and four notches on the sides. A recent Fagan catalog lists several similar swords as masonic swords c.1820
French P1886 Lebel Bayonet. The four inspection marks are the hard to make out (L, H?, R?, C?), and the serial number is 18464. No scabbard. To tell the truth, a blackmith friend of mine wants to make it into two nice stilettos (that cross shaped blade would be great for medieval pieces), and I bought it becuase I think it would make a great rapier blade if it were just twice as long...
Asian Swords
Japanese NCO Shin-Gunto
from WWII, no scabbard. The marks on the ferrule indicate the Tokyo
armory.
Two matched SE Asian dhas,
said to be souvenirs from the Vietnam War.
African Swords
Sudanese Kaskara, no scabbard, age unknown. Looks almost exactly like
a medieval sword, and has a handmade blade with three shallow fullers.
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