Hi guys, sorry for the slow reply, I have a concurrent thread over at myarmoury from which I will share an update:
So, I asked the smith, he immediately told me it's a repair. The blade he thinks is late 19th century, the repair could have been done any time, but he hazards 20th century. He said it's not unusual to see either welded or riveted repairs based on the ability or resources of the person doing the repair. Attached is a photo of a similarly repaired blade in his inventory.
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