Not a historian, but this thread from last year has /u/BlueStraggler and /u/alriclofgar talking a bit about the durability of swords and the inheritance of them.

How many years/decades/centuries would these weapons last for?

Can someone help me here? Memory of a Norwegian? Danish? battle, town was under attack, the local farmers came to the rescue but the townspeople did not let them in or come out to help. Let them be slaughtered. They were burried in a pit grave, with their armor and weapons because their gear was so old and out of date it wasn't worth looting. One had scale armor in an era of plate, I have a memory of it being estimated to be 300 years old when it was worn into battle. Man, I must have read this 30 or more years ago and I'd love a link to read it again, but I don't have enough detail to google.