Quote:
Originally Posted by Will M
I would not recommend replacing the guard on this Garden patent hilt.
Only a dozen or so Gardens are known.
Disassembly always raises questions of originality and can devalue swords.
An operational folding guard isn't necessary to a display sword.
I have a Garden patent hilt sword and the VR appears to be shot out and I do not plan on replacing the guard. Likely the officer left it as is because of the history behind the damage.
The number on the blade spine is 405, is yours numbered?
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I believe so, only inasmuch as 1 of the phots of the flat is just angled enough that I can see indents on the spine indicative of some numbering. That is quite a long ricasso on your example! Am I mistaken or do the longer narrower ricassos tend to be associated with the Solingen trade blades? I know many makers used imported blades but the exact specifics on who actually produced the patent solid officer blades has always been a murkier area.
Good to see you on here, have not seen you on Facebook for a spell, glad to see you are doing well!