Unknown sword blade mark for ID
 

This belongs to a fellow collector, who has recently acquired it in a local auctioner.
I know i should have taken pictures of the whole sword but, being influenced by the fact that the (only) enigma is the blade mark, i neglected the correct procedure :o .
This is a strong and well made blade mounted on a Portuguese cuphilted sword; nothing unusual, as all blades were imported at the time. Judging by the composition of the letters that are distinguishable, it ought to be a German mark ... and not Spanish, as it starts by a "W". Also the blade design looks German ... i guess.
There is no inscription on the body; only this mark on the tang.
I take it that this would belong to a period series of trade blades, that were supplied by the bundle, for later mounting in local swords.
Has anyone here ever seen this mark, or could decipher its contents ... the blade maker (short) name, perhaps ?

.

C'mon Gentlemen ... not a clue ?

I can't find anything close beginning with a W. Could it be a H? 'HANAU"

Jeff

Thank you Jeff,
That's a possibility !
I will ask the owner to try and disclose a fifht letter under that rust.

The fifth letter appeared ... and seems to be a B.
Therefore the whole word not being HANAU :shrug: .
... And back to the first letter being a W .
No more ideas ?

Hi 'Nando,
thinking outside the "box" I tried to make a german word from the various interpretations of the letters

I tried Wahn leaving the last "b" out of the equation .
I discovered there is a town called Wahn which is around 38 kms from Solingen ;) Wahn is a few miles from the Rhone River ....a good source of water for an industrial factory ....or even, perhaps, a sword maker :shrug:

You said that many of these blades were from Germany, with Solingen one of the main sword making areas ....just coincidence that wahn is so close by :shrug: . The "b" is the only 'fly in the ointment' .....yes I said 'b' not BEE ;) :o . Could that possibly be a factory stamp or a makers mark that is similar to a the letter B

All the best

David

Quite a thesis David, thank you for that ;) .
I will expose it to my fellow collector.
But i am afraid it doesn't fit, judging by the font confrontation, capital versus non capital :shrug: . If the letters were minuscle, the third one being a h, the fourth could not be an n :shrug: .