Aceh Sikin for coments

[kai]

Hello Fernando,

If i recall, what Ben asked was the importance of the crowns in handles, not the difference in status between blades with gold inlay and the the crowns.

Yes, you're right. However, both touch on the issue of status (and the societies we're talking about were highly stratified) and we still don't have enough firsthand accounts to answer any of these questions with any certainty. When looking at the craftmanship of a larger amount of examples I believe the approximate status is fairly intuitive though - just have a look at the peudeueng from Ben's collection!
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1995

Crowns may be added at a later stage, while blade inlay is there from the beginning, right ?

Both could be added later. I would guess that most of these swords were pusaka and/or gifts from the sultan signifying a person's function (i. e. as a judge).

Regards,
Kai