Hi all, need some help with old army(?) knives/swords

[J-___]

Im pretty sure this doesnt belong in this section, but im not sure where else to put it ...

Anyways, i need some help, we found some old swords and bajonets that belonged to my grandfather, but we have no idea what it is and if we should throw it away or keep em ...

Anyone who might have some info on these, well that would be greatly appreciated

 

[Cougar Allen]

Welcome to Bladeforums!

 

[J-___]

hey thanks for the welcome
(and for the free moving service)

Not sure how i could have missed this section, its quite obvious when i look at the title

 

[Merek]

Your dad seems to have collected a variety of weapons there. Several appear to be old. There are also some 'ethnic' blades there associated with specific regions. Be prepared to get an education in swords. You have a wonderful collection which you may wish to keep after you start to discover the histories of each of these weapons.
Good sharp photos of all aspects of the blades and grips of EACH will greatly help the ID process. Close-ups of any markings and notes of anything observed as to materials will help also. Crop your photos to just the object at question. Do not attempt to clean or sharpen the swords with anything abrasive or caustic at this point. You could inadvertantly devalue the swords to prospective collectors.
Despite the urge, please do not try to cut anything with them.
Here are a couple of other links to sites where knowledgable sword people hang out. Great stuff. I think it is a collection that will cause some envy .
Just tell 'em, "Nyah! Nyah! MINE!"

http://forums.swordforum.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=11

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=2

I look forward to more photos.

 

[J-___]

hey thanks, ill make some close-ups tomorrow.. i did see some numbers/words on some of them, so i'll make some detailed shots of that ...

Also thanks for the links

p.s: excellent links, might i add

 

[horseclover]

Hi J

This is certainly not the type of collection that should be merely discarded. The first photo shows a couple of European pieces from the 19th century and the dog headed thingy is probably Malaysian or from the Phillipines. It may seem like a lot of work but even if you are able to find a listed inventory that your grandfather left, you really need to approach things one piece at a time. The bottom picture is of fencing sabres. With that wide an assortment, you may want to consider simply retaining it entirely. A reputable auction house or amrs dealer would be the way to go if you are intent on selling them.

Thre is another forum at http://swordforum.com and there are specialized forums for various ethnographic items and Antiques and Military items. The bayonets, fencing sabres and the two from the first picture would go in the Antiques and Military room.

It is an impressive collection but correctly identifying ecah piece will be easier if some additional photos are taken of the individual pieces.

Don't just throw them away

Cheers

GC

 

[Merek]

There are several Malaysian and Filipino (Moro) items in what is shown. I wouldn't even guess about any age or value without better pics. I since looked through this site ( http://old.blades.free.fr/ )and learned a bit more myself. The 'throw away' statement flipped me too I must admit. There are people who would do just that because they are entirely ignorant of the value and because they are 'dangerous weapons'. I am glad to know there are collections like this out there waiting discovery. Thanks for sharing 'J'.

 

[saint o'killers]

hmmm...i see some that i can recognize. no Moro or Philippine pieces there, except maybe the spear head...hard to tell, though, so i need a close up of the spearhead. from the angle of the shot it could go either Indonesian or Philippines.

but here goes...you have two basic four Indo/Malay pieces. the longer pieces are in the parang family: the one with a curvature could be called a pedang, and the second one with a buffalo horn handle with an open mouth is called a klewang. the knife with horn handle with an "L" shape is called Aceh badik and the other short knife is a straight keris (tilam upih).

oh and i see a Nepalese (could be Indian) kukri.

nice collection! i hope this helps.

 

[J-___]

There are several Malaysian and Filipino (Moro) items in what is shown. I wouldn't even guess about any age or value without better pics. I since looked through this site ( http://old.blades.free.fr/ )and learned a bit more myself. The 'throw away' statement flipped me too I must admit. There are people who would do just that because they are entirely ignorant of the value and because they are 'dangerous weapons'. I am glad to know there are collections like this out there waiting discovery. Thanks for sharing 'J'.

Well, in all honesty, throwing it away has never crossed my mind .
Since i was a kid ive been intriged by all sorts of weapons (like most kids), and my father has done a great job hiding these from me throug out the years for obvious reasons (i can see myself taking them to the woods and playing "army" with them, which would have been a bad idea in every way possible)

So "throw them away? " was more meant like "worth anything?" or something like that ...

Some of the things seem in fairly good condition, others (fencing swords) in not so good condition...
One is actually painted white , which is probably not a good thing

Anyways, im glad i found this forum, and the other links provided by all of you ..(thx again

I'll try to take some more detailed pictures of the pieces by themselves, and ingravements i can find ...
It's already interesting just to find out more about the pieces, and i'm not in a rush

 

[Merek]

Welcome to the Wonderful Obsessional World of Sword Collecting!
You have had the luck of a 'shortcut', so to speak. When I get to cleaning out my parent's place I know there are few, if any, blades of significance. My dad collected a lot of American Indian artifacts (as have I), and has a few old rifles, muskets and shotguns. ALL of which is buried under piles and piles of .....umm.....'stuff'. Dumpsters will be involved....

 

[bwray]

You have a number of blades from the Indonesian archipelago. Check out http://www.valiantco.com/ for names and photos of authentic replicas of blades you will recognize from your collection. Just click on the regions provided on the left of the screen to explore on the basis of country of origin.

 

[cerulean]

Hi, J.! The only items I’m familiar with are the Indonesian weapons, which Saint o’killers already covered really well. Just to add a couple of things…

This is a very cool sword! There was a fairly recent discussion about this style of sword on the Ethnographic Edged Weapons Forum, but I’m too lazy to search for it. The hilt is in the form of a Makara and it looks like it’s nicely carved.

The Aceh badik at the top (with L-shaped handle) is commonly referred to as a “rencong”. The klewang below it is probably also from Sumatra. Its handle is a more stylized version of the Makara shape.

This keris has a hilt that comes from Java. It looks like the mendak (ferrule-type thing between the blade and handle) may be upside down?



Anyway, that’s a great collection of blades and it must be neat to discover them in your family. I’d really love to see more pics, too.