Real or Faux? Need help identifying if this saber is legit

[aydensnake]

Can't tell if this thing is legit or not. I found this at an antique store in Tennessee It only has 1 marking on it, possibly 2 after having cleaned it up. A P.A. 15 on the bottom of the guard and what appears to be an I A marking on the top of the guard

 

[captaindrew]

Welcome to the forum, that's an unusual guard I'm not familiar with but I'm far from a sword expert and it looks like someone got a bit too aggressive trying to shine it up. Paging @ucvrelics he may be able to help you with this.

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy.

 

[bayonet]

That P.A. 15 marking looks fake. I (and others) would like to see better close ups of the Guard/Hilt before I go searching thru what books I have. Please tell us you didn't buy it? Plus what is he asking for it? Also that scabbard looks longer than the blade so you know it's a problem. The scabbard drag looks funny but a close up pic of that would be nice too.

 

[bobinwmass]

Not an ACW style sword I am familiar with.

 

[scooter748driver]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums.

 

[History hoarder63]

Welcome to the forum, that's an unusual guard I'm not familiar with but I'm far from a sword expert and it looks like someone got a bit too aggressive trying to shine it up. Paging @ucvrelics he may be able to help you with this.

Can't tell if this thing is legit or not. I found this at an antique store in Tennessee It only has 1 marking on it, possibly 2 after having cleaned it up. A P.A. 15 on the bottom of the guard and what appears to be an I A marking on the top of the guard

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Looks French to me.

 

[Package4]

Made in India or Pakistan

 

[aydensnake]

That P.A. 15 marking looks fake. I (and others) would like to see better close ups of the Guard/Hilt before I go searching thru what books I have. Please tell us you didn't buy it? Plus what is he asking for it? Also that scabbard looks longer than the blade so you know it's a problem. The scabbard drag looks funny but a close up pic of that would be nice too.

Welcome to the forum, that's an unusual guard I'm not familiar with but I'm far from a sword expert and it looks like someone got a bit too aggressive trying to shine it up. Paging @ucvrelics he may be able to help you with this.

Yeah, I got too aggressive shining it up since there was quite a bit of stuff on it, the IA marking didn't even show up until I cleaned it. It was $180. Scabbard length seems fine when overlaid.

 

[aydensnake]

pics of where the blade meets the guard

 

[scooter748driver]

Looks like a reproduction piece to me.

 

[Package4]

pics of where the blade meets the guard

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Just a suggestion, FWIW, thank goodness this was not a real (original) sword, when you clean an original, do so very slowly if at all. Do not go at it with harsh chemicals, steel wool or power tools. My first sword was a non-commissioned officer's sword from Emerson & Silver, but it had tremendous amounts of patina, of course I had to spruce it up. I took a couple of cans of Brasso and quite a bit of elbow grease and had that bad boy shining like new. I showed it to Dave Taylor and in his way of educating a young collector, said "That is real good, you took an $800 sword and made it into a $400 one!"

I believe your sword was used by a reenactor and has had decades of use, was probably picked up at an estate sale and then sold as an original, happens all the time, with zero nefarious intent.

 

[bayonet]

Go return it and get your money back unless you want to be the coolest guy in your neighborhood whacking weeds with it. Or swinging it while chasing down the Thieves you catch in the middle of the night trying to steal your car from your driveway!

 

[Salterr]

This book will help you tremendously, it goes for about double what you paid for your sword but the money you will save in the long run will be huge if you can find a copy.

 

[Salterr]

In most cases you want to find markings on the sword of the manufacturer on one side and the date with the initials of the inspector on the opposite side of the ricasso. The initials can also be found on the drag or the pommel cap sometimes. There are sometimes other markings like rack numbers but even with that said the price that was asked for is not close at all to what genuine civil war swords go for and can be used as an indicator that something might be funny with the item.

 

[bayonet]

View attachment 468583This book will help you tremendously, it goes for about double what you paid for your sword but the money you will save in the long run will be huge if you can find a copy.

Lets hope for a reprint of this book. $400 is a bit too much

 

[Salterr]

Lets hope for a reprint of this book. $400 is a bit too much

Some of these prices are insane, you can actually see the retail price on the book itself and people still want 4 times as much. In print or out it's grossly unfair to withhold knowledge based off super inflated prices. It would be so beneficial to be able to share the images of the books with people here and advance everyone's understanding and enjoyment but the images get taken down.

 

[Seduzal]

Welcome to CWT from the Smoky Mountain side of North Carolina. Just jump right in and enjoy. To get a better overview of these form s you can look here: https://civilwartalk.com/forums/

 

[bayonet]

Some of these prices are insane, you can actually see the retail price on the book itself and people still want 4 times as much. In print or out it's grossly unfair to withhold knowledge based off super inflated prices. It would be so beneficial to be able to share the images of the books with people here and advance everyone's understanding and enjoyment but the images get taken down.

His other book CIVIL WAR ARMY SWORDS can still be had for maybe $80 so I'm baffled on why the other is priced so high.

 

[History hoarder63]

Some of these prices are insane, you can actually see the retail price on the book itself and people still want 4 times as much. In print or out it's grossly unfair to withhold knowledge based off super inflated prices. It would be so beneficial to be able to share the images of the books with people here and advance everyone's understanding and enjoyment but the images get taken down.

It's supply and demand. Many Civil War collectors books (at least the technical ones) were printed in small quantities. Now that they are out of print, demand widely exceeds supply. Crossover subjects like sword or gun books can even be worse since not only do CW collectors want them but general arms collectors and military dealers want them too.