15th/16th Cen. 60" serpentine sword gun ID???

[ottermedicine]

I have an antique serpentine 60" blade sword with an arquebus (small smooth bore matchlock) above the 24" hilt. I can't seem to find anything that looks even vaguely like it and would greatly appreciate it if anyone could:
1) help me better identify it
2) give me an idea as to the value of it
3) suggest the best venue to achieve wealth beyond my wildest imagination in selling said item
ok... skip #3.
You can respond to my gmail account inasmuchas Lord knows if I'll ever be able to navigate back to this site again.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Josh
note: I am teacher and don't really want this sword on my web site, ergo available picture for now can be emailed directly if interested. I'll get to that one soon.

 

[Cougar Allen]

Welcome to Bladeforums! Let's try this on the Sword Forum. If it's as old as it looks no doubt it's worth vast amounts of money, but there are a lot more modern reproductions around than old ones....

 

[Andrew Taylor]

Looks like a good one to me. The wavy blade looks Javanese, Sumatran or Balinese. Somewhere out that way anyway. The lighter tip looks as though it is formed as a lizard or snake.

 

[Andrew Taylor]

final picture.

 

[JCaswell]

I don't know ... the build quality is pretty low.

I'd say it's either from some out-of-the-way place, as Andrew said, or it's a 19th C replica (and not a particularly good one at that), or both (a 19th C. copy from some out-of-the-way place.)

Poor execution of 'fancy' appointments (such as the guard) is a hallmark of out-of-the-way-built 'weapons.'

 

[ottermedicine]

Thank you very much Andrew for your help getting these pix on here. Much appreciated!
I had hoped that the close ups of the methods of fastening hilt, blade, arquebus...etc might prove useful to someone far smarter than me re: these things.
All I know is my dad was pretty proud of it... and he had owned antiques donated/accepted by the Smithsonian. But Mr Caswell is absolutely right... it's seems to be hard to know with certainty. W/o carbon dating or markings... how do you tell? Thanks

 

[CWL]

The overall design (inspiration) is a German/Swiss 2-handed sword used in late 15th-early 16th Century. Possibly Italian city guard.

These 2-handed swords were carried by NCOs and officers as a sign of rank & prestige, some were real and others were purely ceremonial. Look up Renaissance Landsknechts, Dopplesoldner and Hurenwebels for woodblock prints of similiar 2-handed swords with wavy blades.

During the early introduction of massed firearms in Europe, there were so many crazy one-off designs like this. Can't tell if it is real or reproduction from the photos. But I would agree that the metalsmith quality of the crosspiece is pretty poor for a Renaissance officers/ceremonial weapon. Even if it is not real, it's more than likely based-off a historical weapon sitting in a museum somewhere.

Also try this forum: http://forums.swordforum.com/

 

[ottermedicine]

Thank you so much for you input. Heck of an item actually. I am working in conjunction with an auctioneer as I have a number of other antiques that I just can't find a reason keep in such cramped new quarter as I have.
appreciate you thoughts