Eagle's-head sword - imperial justice or prison official?

[vady]

so it's straight blade double-fullered and has mismatched/overstruck numbers on guard and scabbard. no visible marks under langets. I'm thinking 1890s or so? expertise much appreciated. fred?

[Frogprince]

My immediate observations with two questions: Straight multi-fullered plain blade with a “P” type knuckle guard, an Eagle head backstrap, a sharkskin grip, and some unknown numbers on the side of the “P” guard. Having a noticeable gap in the fit of the backstop to the knuckle bow - what does the top of the pommel look like? With that said - some Prussian units used Eagle head hilted swords. And the other question being are the numbers in the from of a serial number, or a unit marking? Best Regards, Fred

* (Also posted on the TR era forum)

[Frogprince]

I read the comments on another forum with interest, and here is my additional input on the sword: Police generally wore sabers with curved blades with one fuller, but this one is straight and multi-fullered like the Prussian IOD89 that had a basket type hilt. But there was an exception with the straight bladed multi-fullered blades mounted in what was known as the “Fusilier-Montur” style hilt that most call a “P” guard with just a single knuckle bow. Likewise, the relatively scarce Eagle Head backstrap is seen on some Prussian Officer swords (and a non-related Prussian hunting blade) that were carried by at least two Prussian cavalry regiments - one being the Garde-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 2, and the other Garde-Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 1.

With the sword as it is now (IMO) obviously not having the benefit of being factory assembled in its current configuration. With one additional factor being the fact that quite few of the formerly obsolete swords in German arsenals that have survived and are in collections now sometimes were reissued, and reissued again and again. Something that can complicate trying to identify markings in general because some armorers seem to have made up their own rules. So if it was in hand I would be looking at all of the small details in trying to figure out just how it was put tother, and for what purpose. Best Regards, FP