Thanks for the responses. 
 I was remiss in not mentioning that the hilt is NOT brass: it is iron with rather crudish gold paint.  There are some traces of "gold" on the adhesive under the langets. 
 But the handle is iron, no argument here. The blade is superb: massive, no nicks, no damage at all and still fully sharp. I suspect it must be pretty old and not a regulation weapon :-) 
 Any more precise ideas about the mark?
		 
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
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