[Spunjer]

finally, there's this medallion. this is the proverbial monkey wrench in this whole thing. looking at it, it blends with the rest, just another trinket, is all. closer look, it's a Catholic medallion. okay, so the dude converted. or he's not religious and any help from any religion will do. just playing it safe. maybe. that's mystery number 1. what is a catholic medallion doing on a Moro sword? mystery number 2. it's made out of aluminum. with that in mind, it's easy to assume that this was added later, or this whole ensemble is a later piece. if it's a later piece, it's too ordinary looking for a kampy to be jazzed up for tourist consumption. the kampy looks more like a personal sidearm. it's too personalized. possibility number 2 is the medallion is old. i realized aluminum was very expensive around the turn of the 20th century, so it wasn't just something you can acquire just like that. but still, there's that possibility. as far as the medallion, the front says "St Alphonsus Maria of Ligouri, Pray For Us" and it has an image of him. the back says "Our Lady Of Perpetual Help, Pray For Us" with the image of Madonna and Child.
of note on the way the word "St" or "Saint" was stamped on the front: the letter "t" next to the letter "S" was half the size, common practice when they abbreviate words during that era.

ok, i'm done rambling. i just now realized being imprisoned in my house for weeks will do this to me. thanks for looking. i figure this would make a good discussion post while we're pretty much homebound.