[David]

Originally Posted by spiral

Up until 25 or so years ago, many,many pubs in England were adorned with weaponry from around the world, generally drilled & nailed to the wall, so that they weren't brought into more "current" use on a drunken Friday night..

I am sure some blades have been drilled for other reasons, but for many thousands there provenance was a 100 years on a pub wall protected from rust by the layers of tar & nicotine.

Many UK dealers and even collectors a couple of decades ago used to plug the hole with copper brass or Gold, then it becomes more of an enhancement & valuable feature.

Spiral

Spiral, this is certainly one explanation that i had considered for this particular hole.