Sword found in the Bering Sea

A

auen1

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Oct 16, 2012
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A friend of mine found an old sword while suction dredging for gold. It broke in two during recovery. It measures 36", has a sheath and is heavily encrusted with gravel. An old whalers hook, (for pulling blubber), was found in the same area. This leads me to believe that the age might be somewhere between 1850-1900. This is when the commercial whaling ships from New England were working.

My friend would like to sell this sword, but is unsure of the possible value/age/type.
Any ideas or leads?
Many thanks!




 
Here are a few better photos.

After thinking a bit more, the sword may have been used to butcher whales. Sometimes whaling ships needed to butcher the whales outside of the boat, just because the whales weighed so much. This also might explain the whalers hook found nearby (used to lift the blubber onto the boat). Maybe these items were accidentally dropped overboard.

Edit:Found this info too
In one of the more bizarre events in Alaska's whaling history, a Confederate Navy raider, the Shenandoah, extended the Civil War to the Arctic for seven days (from June 22-28, 1865) when she captured 24 American whaleships (all of whom were registered in New England states), burning 20 of them, and taking the crews prisoner and sending them to San Francisco.
Click to expand...







 
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That sword looks like a series of red xs so I'm guessing it's not worth very much....
 
I did a little more research, and the sword blade closely matches that of a boarding knife used for butchering whales. With the blubber hook found nearby, it would make sense.
 
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