I would like more information about this saber and bayonet.

by moscowsuperkid

My grandfather just gave me this sword and bayonet. He reports that he was given the sword around 1930 by a German man who was an officer in WWI and this was his saber. That is all I know.

As for the bayonet, my grandfather did not remember where he got it. He did fight in WWII, but was in the navy and did not see action.

Any information would be appreciated!

http://imgur.com/p1Glvv7 http://imgur.com/zZph4OH http://imgur.com/JZts9WW http://imgur.com/Z9SAcTY http://imgur.com/tpAWo9M http://imgur.com/0c6nzgX

I can certainly provide more pictures if need be.

AncientHistory

This would be better suited to r/swords - The bayonet is a Type 30 Japanese bayonet; those are foundry/arsenal marks; the sword is a naval officer's spadroon - blue and gilt, too - but I'm not familiar with the exact make and year. u/Irrissann is pretty good at these sort of identifications, however, so he might be able to help.

Irrissann

I posted this to /r/swords too, but for anyone else looking for the answers:

The gilt and blued smallsword is french, from just after the 1st empire. It is identified by the pommel as a "epee de pommeau orne d'une couronne de feuilliage" or a sword with a pommel adorned with a crown of leaves. Yours is particularly nice, and interestingly has a royal crown and lion, symbols of a royalist. This style of smallsword was in vogue from the first empire and persisted even under the reign of Louis Phillipe after the restoration and belonged generally to high grade officers. This style of sword with royalist decoration is quite rare, having been produced only for a very short amount of time.

I would say yours is in fair to good condition, with a large amount of the fire gilding on the handle remaining, but some of the mother of pearl missing. The blade is in very good condition, as most suffer losses to their bluing.

I would tentatively value this around 875USD - 1250USD, given that the scabbard is missing and there is damage to the handle. I do however get the feeling that on auction this could fetch more, with good photos. If you do plan to sell, I'd take it to a local auction house that posts their sales on sites like invaluable.com or the-saleroom.com