Featured Antique Sword Help

Hello - was passed down this sword from my grandfather. Info I have gotten is that it may be from 1810-1820, possibly Marine Corp. Any help on its origin/value would be great!

 

I posted link to here on Company of Military Historians forum. Pls measure overall length and blade length. It appears to be a US Eaglehead sword of the kind carried by Army and militia infantry officers up to about 1840, but I don’t know much about edged weapons. Folks on that forum will. Don’t touch the blade, condition is excellent, the blueing and gold on it are about like new, a condition seldom seen on these. Any marks on the scabbard?

 

Here are a few pictures of the scabbard.

Thank you for your help!

 

I’ve been looking for my book “American Fraternal Swords.” The sword seems to lack both naval and military symbols, so now I’m thinking it might be a mid-to-late 19th C. Fraternal sword.

 

Possibly IOOF, like this one:

http://www.icollector.com/U-S-Eagle...nal-Organization-Presentation-Sheath_i9386748

 

That's based on a different sword...
with no guard..

 

The image Springfield posted looks more like a phoenix than an eagle. It has a crest on the head.

 

There's more symbolism on the sword. Now that I enlarge the sheath I see there is a circle of thirteen stars plus clusters of acorns. There's also a large star on the hilt. I tried to enlarge it without losing details to pixilating. The Odd Fellows do have a lot of swords, but you'd expect them to have the three rings somewhere, but it bears a striking resemblance to the one komokwa shows.

 

Brandon - if you click on Full Image after uploading photos they will appear in your post and not as tiny links.

 

In the case of a geographically-widespread fraternal organization, many different regalia and sword-suppliers would offer different styles of swords; there was no standardized design as was the case in the US Army post-1841. Still looking for my copy of “The American Fraternal Sword.” Anyway at this point I’m about 90% sure Brandon’s sword is in the “fraternal” category.

 

Found the book! Having run out of bookshelves long ago, newer books wind up in boxes and I had to find the right box. Page 234 has Appendix II, “Plan of the Orders of Masonry.” A plain 5-pointed star as seen on Brandon’s sword lines up with the Scottish Rite side of the chart, Consistory, 28th degree, “Knight of the Sun.” So Brandon might want to see if he had any Masons among his ancestors.

 

A sword collector from The Company of Military Historians replied: “This appears to be a highly-embellished example of the M 1841 Naval officers sword. See "U.S. Naval Officers, Their Swords and Dirks" by Pete Tuite. Pete is the real expert on these swords and I am sure could provide much more detail concerning this example and its pedigree than I.” I didn’t have permission to use his name here but he’s been collecting American military swords for years and knows way more than I do.

 

https://www.amazon.com/US-Naval-Off...&ie=UTF8&qid=1523457404&sr=1-6&keywords=tuite

 

I am not sure what you mean by "highly-embellished". Are you saying it is fake? Or just more decorated?

 

Well if you've seen my posts on your other thread , I'm comfortable saying it's not authentic ....but I'm no fancy expert......so more research may be in order on your part..

 

I think that is why I am on the site asking questions. To do research

 

well....we're nothing , if not trying to come up with the correct answer !!

Old swords....are tricky , at the best of times !

 

I’d direct any further questions to Mr. Tuite, as my friend suggested. We’re just the blind leading the blind making guesses here with respect to this very specialized topic.

This topic motivated me to buy Mr. T’s book. My friends used to tell me I should collect naval dirks instead of cannons so I’ll at least collect the book and learn about them. If anyone wants to buy one new, be sure and look at the small print under the Amazon $61. Price, where they tell you about other dealers selling new for less. Mine is from one of those links, $49. Plus $3.55 ship.