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					Originally Posted by  Merenti
					 
				 
				To me this is a nice authentic rapier circa 1630-1650.  Iron cutting was popularly done in Italy (Milan).  I saw it too, but it's in poor condition. 
			
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 True, but the condition isn't terrible, and "a bit rusty" is probably the only kind I can afford for this kind of sword. And apparently not even that (I was not all that close)! }|:oP
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					Originally Posted by  fernando
					 
				 
				Why not Spanish; by one of those Toledo smiths ... like PEDRO DEL MONTE :o. 
			
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 I thought it might be a reference to Pedro del Monte or even Pedro Hernandez, but there is no last name it seems, or at least I can't make it out. I can't make heads or tails of the other side. Those oval (eye?) shapes do look a little more familiar although I can't remember where I've seen them before - the closest ones were Italian marks I found on a thread on this forum (which I can't seem to find any more now), but they have another line of "lashes" surrounding the "eye".