Collins & Co lobo swords

[Kulgan]

Hi All.
Hoping you might be able to give me a idea on these. History, rough age and where I could find other information about them? Theres a bit of info on the net about Collins and co but I cant find and real info on these swords.
I inherited these a few years ago from my father who had them in his collection for decades.
Both are numbered 86 but one is about a inch longer and has 1S stamped above the No 86. On the scabbards they are numbered 15 and 16.

 

[horseclover]

There have been discussions here in the Bernard Levine subsection here. There were other beasties and iirc, first appeared towards the end of the 19th century.

The machete/sword like blades are regarded as cutacha. I believe the main Collins market of these was after the Spanish American War, so these are primarily produced after that but there was an earlier lobo/wolf form that began the trend in 1876 and lasted into the 20th century.

I have a file or link somewhere on the beast. Elephant, eagle, wolf and something else.
https://www.oregonknifeclub.org/Newsletter 1204.pdf

The scabbard numbers were I think the type of scabbard common to other models and the others model numbers.

You might want to post them in the Bernard Levine section.

Cheers
GC

 

[osmo]

Hi All.
Hoping you might be able to give me a idea on these. History, rough age and where I could find other information about them? Theres a bit of info on the net about Collins and co but I cant find and real info on these swords.
I inherited these a few years ago from my father who had them in his collection for decades.
Both are numbered 86 but one is about a inch longer and has 1S stamped above the No 86. On the scabbards they are numbered 15 and 16.

Nice swords!...they are actually fancy machetes...made sometime between the turn of the century and the late 1930's, mostly for the Latin American market. Collins & Co made many different models of axes, knifes, and machetes, including five types of fancy animal head machetes (eagle, wolf, stylized eagle, rooster, and elephant). I have a small collection of Collins machetes. Are you by any chance interested in selling them?

 

[not2sharp]

These are rare and valuable machete sidearms issued to local militia after the Spanish American War. The wolf version with the glass eyes is thought to have been the first of the series and may date back to the 1870s.

n2s