need help with this sword

dtv2012az · 05-04-2013, 03:33 PM

Need some help identifying this sword. There is Cyrillic writing on the blade near handle hard to see in the picture it translates to English from Slovenian? to "The officers cooperative". I think it is a WW1 sword but not sure if it is from later date. as you can see the blade is rusty, any way to clean without ruining the sword. Also, if anyone has an idea on value that would be great.

**meyle77** · 05-04-2013, 03:51 PM

Tsarist eagle ? Russian or Serbian ?
I think it is a repro - poor detail and fresh rust.

**Richie B** · 05-04-2013, 04:43 PM

by meyle77

Tsarist eagle ? Russian or Serbian ?
I think it is a repro - poor detail and fresh rust.

I tend to agree - extremely poor quality.

I don't like the "makers'" mark on the blade.

**Frogprince** · 05-05-2013, 05:01 PM

I believe it's from the post WW I "kingdom of the Serbs" (Yugoslavia), and am leaning towards possibly an export model from Germany. Having seen similar swords in the past that were of a different quality than might be expected, and once in a while an importer or retailers mark in lieu of the actual maker. FP

**ww2relichunter** · 05-05-2013, 07:39 PM

i would agree this is a fake lion head sword !!! quality is to poor to be period make !

**SRB** · 05-05-2013, 08:50 PM

Serbian coat of arms of the Kingdom, but the quality is very suspicious.

Is there any markings?

**Frogprince** · 05-06-2013, 05:11 AM

Over time looking at fairly large numbers of Imperial era basket hilted swords that were made for enlisted men (and to some extent the lesser grades of officer's swords) that were private purchases, it will show that they were not always of the best quality, and that some of them have similar characteristics to this one. Which is understandable as they were made for non-service use, and price was a major consideration, being only a fraction of the price of a government issue model. With really old nickel plating getting a whitish layer of oxide, and sometimes pinhole nodules of rust poking up from underneath. With the item here having some kind of marking that may have been an importer or retailer? But not a German one that comes to mind. And in the condition that this one is in I have to ask myself ........ would it sell for more than it cost to make?? Which is not to say that many new fakes have not been, or that they are not still being imported into the U.S. But they usually have some different "signature" faults in their construction. FP