Great arguments!
The welding repair and the new putty do not bother me the least bit. How many times on this forum has someone asked about ways to fix loose handles with modern adhesives? That it may be epoxy instead of the old putty is not a problem.
Attached pics are of a near-identical hilt from OA. You can still see the marks on the blade from an earlier hilt arrangement, but this hilt looks solid, with no alterations or repairs. I haven't seen many of these hilts so they're not currently mass-produced. The hilt on my example could very well have been married to the balde recently, and David, your scenario with the cutting of the spike is plausible, but both pieces seem to be quite old.
Overall I still feel like this piece is representative of an old firangi so I'm happy with it
Emanuel