There was a period of time when, from the Victorian era till the 1930s?, that collectors wanted every blade to be shiny. So many would grind and polish off blade engravings and inscriptions, to be nice and shiny. They would even nickel plate or chrome plate blades (as well as throw away scabbards
).
Angering but not surprising that many of these blades don't have scabbards and are ground down. In fact, 3 years ago, I knew of an idiot that chromed an American Civil War sword before selling it to a friend of mine.
