yataghan but confused of origin and date

[TVV]

Originally Posted by ariel

By the way, I did not know that there were restriction on exporting old weapons from Bulgaria. Can you be more specific?

Well, the general law is that items older than 1850 are a considered "national cultural monuments" (yes, this is the right translation) and are not to be exported. The law is unfortunately so vaguely stated that in its broadest interpretation could include even people. I would not worry too much about ethnographic weapons, but antiquities are deffinitely prohibited to be exported. This is more of a problem to the exporters, not the collectors. I do not think you need to worry about anything you have purchased from eBay.
Conogre: yes, I remember the exact piece you are referring to and if I remember correctly, it was marketed not as a sax but as a mahaira. With items that old it is too hard to be able to tell authenticity just from a picture, and I avoid them, even if they look very tempting.