Pr. Eugen sword - gilt on nickel (?)

[vady]

hi sword specialistas -

picked up a fine, no mm PE degen; it seems very unusual.

rather than the hilt being zinc or alu , it appears to be solid nickel - or maybe even silver (?!). maybe that's why so very much of the finish remains...

look at the langet - the sole area where the gilt lacquer is missing. looks identical to the nickel blade! I can find zero refs to PE base metal being other than zinc (common) or aluminum (scarce or rare). previously unknown variant??

please comment. thanks heaps!

[Frogprince]

It does look like it's a very nice example. And please correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to be seeing some areas that might be a zinc/gray colored base metal(?). Best Regards, Fred

[vady]

Hi fred - long time and happy '14! It's like i said 3 years ago - the 'rubbed' langet appeared t/b nickel or nickel plate of the same hue as the blade - even tho gilt wash over nickel mt. Seem odd from the adherence p.o.v. Saw no tell-tale matte gray like on for ex. Late-war zinc badges where the finish is mostly eaten and zink pest results. Cheers dw

it does look like it's a very nice example. And please correct me if i'm wrong, but i seem to be seeing some areas that might be a zinc/gray colored base metal(?). Best regards, fred

[Frogprince]

Hi fred - long time and happy '14! It's like i said 3 years ago - the 'rubbed' langet appeared t/b nickel or nickel plate of the same hue as the blade - even tho gilt wash over nickel mt. Seem odd from the adherence p.o.v. Saw no tell-tale matte gray like on for ex. Late-war zinc badges where the finish is mostly eaten and zink pest results. Cheers dw

Hello vady (dw),

With the pictures posted I'm making some guesses based on what I seem to be seeing. With some general observations as follows: Solid nickel silver is probably going to age the same as early SA (etc.) cross guards to a matte silver. And bare zinc that is freshly exposed will be silver until a layer of (grayish) oxide is formed which can be prolonged (as a silver color) by protecting it from the atmosphere/elements. With nickel plating most likely not doing much in the way of aging until it gets really old without being cleaned of a whitish layer that can eventually form on top of it. And the early more pure Feinzink is not as prone to the corrosion that is seen with the later zinc alloys sometimes called Kreigsmetall which can have sufficient impurities (especially lead) to cause quite a few problems over the long term. With the Caveat that once active corrosion in zinc has started, the long term prognosis is usually not favorable. But good quality zinc that has just aged some can last a very long time.

PS: One of my long term projects is to confirm the exact nature of the Eickhorn P.E. saber finish - not that it has any immediate bearing on the matter at hand.

Best Regards, Fred