Sword

[Rredriderr]

Goodafternoon ladies and gentlemen my father recently passed away last year and while going through his stuff I found a sword that he had never brought up before was just wondering if anyone could give me any more information or tell me if they thought it was real thank you

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy. Roby Model 1860 Cavalry Saber. A.G.M. is inspector Abner, G. Mosman

https://chelmsfordgov.com/CHCwebsite/PDF_files/Main_190.pdf

I stand corrected

 

[Stryker65]

Wow! Anything on where or when this sword was acquired? Do you think it's a family relic?

 

[Rredriderr]

No I have no idea literally nobody knows anything just found it in my dads closet hidden away he never mentioned it once I'm 26 and it my dad loved this kind of thing so I don't know why he never brought it up maybe he forgot he had it he was sick for many years my next question is if it's real or not

 

[bobinwmass]

Welcome, enjoy. Roby Model 1840 Cavalry Saber. A.G.M. is inspector Abner, G. Mosman

https://chelmsfordgov.com/CHCwebsite/PDF_files/Main_190.pdf

Roby didn't make a Model 1840, they made 1860's. Admittedly the swell in the grip is not as pronounced as you usually see, and something in that leather wrap looks a bit off to me. I wonder if the grip was rewrapped.

 

[JOHN42768]

Roby didn't make a Model 1840, they made 1860's. Admittedly the swell in the grip is not as pronounced as you usually see, and something in that leather wrap looks a bit off to me. I wonder if the grip was rewrapped.

Hi Bob, I stand corrected. I took it for a straight grip without any swell and that through me. No photo of tang to tell if grip was ever off the blade. The "Man at Arms" article even showed a photo of it marked as 1840, but also had wrong inspector. I should have checked Thillman's. Thanks, John

 

[Papabyrd]

IT is real just some question about the grip being replaced as it should have a swell in the middle to fit your hand better. Your saber looks like an 1860 but the grip looks more 1840 model.

 

[JOHN42768]

IT is real just some question about the grip being replaced as it should have a swell in the middle to fit your hand better. Your saber looks like an 1860 but the grip looks more 1840 model.

That threw me until Bob brought up Roby made had no 1840 models

 

[R. Porter]

If you check Thillmann you will see that the Roby grip has only a slight bulge. The wood core has a shallow groove and is wrapped by two strands of 20 gauge wire twisted together with 12 twists to the inch and 13 turns around the grip. Apparently the later grips (1864-1865) are 1/8 of an inch shorter than the earlier grips. This grip is diagnostic of Roby cavalry sabers and allows you to easily pick them out in a crowd of 1860 sabers. It tends to be slimmer and flatter than other 1860 grips. Thillmann speculates that the grip has shallower grooves because it uses softer wood that would more likely chip and split if deeper grooves were attempted.

So, you probably have an original grip.

Thillmann says the Roby cavalry swords were just as good as Ames cavalry swords. So you probably have an excellent sword.

 

[scooter748driver]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums.

Nice saber!

 

[Trooper "D"]

Goodafternoon ladies and gentlemen my father recently passed away last year and while going through his stuff I found a sword that he had never brought up before was just wondering if anyone could give me any more information or tell me if they thought it was real thank you

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Thanks for sharing
Cheers!

 

[Rredriderr]

Thanks for all the help guys !

 

[Rredriderr]

One thing that I didn't think to mention before was the fact that the edge of the sword has 2 decent sized chunks out of it Im wondering if that indicates that it was used and if that hurts or helps its worth I think to myself it makes it a lot more important interesting

 

[Glen_C]

The sword looks fine to me. I maintain to some other collectors that one will find two grip profiles but both will have more winds of twisted wire than a typical Ames, or other light cavalry '1860' with the humped grips.

I don't know Thillman's cavalry book but certainly in there one will see different marks on Roby swords as well. The last 1864 I actually spotted from more than 30 ft away. Late Roby examples have the quite straight grip. You'll find some others, imports and my theories on Roby include him importing.

A lot of older info from folks like Hamilton, are 'wrong', right? He had listed the above as an 1840 in his old Man At Arms article. Sometimes it takes looking at three sources to draw straws (especially with eagle pommel swords).

https://www.chelmsfordgov.com/CHCwebsite/PDF_files/Main_190.pdf

Nice looking sword. Compare to Bleckman swords.

Cheers
GC