European sword marking identification

Valjhun · 3rd August 2008, 02:34 AM

Dear Friends,

I've came along that sword, blade only. It has a marking inprinted in the tang. Can anybody identify it?

Marc · 3rd August 2008, 02:46 PM

Well.... it seems a variation of the old punch mark for the city of Toledo, used by the trade inspectors and found in many 16th and 17th c. blades... only that these have the "o" above the "T", not below it, and, besides, this isn't exactly the kind of blade one would expect to see coming out of a Toledo workshop.
On the other hand, marks associated with "quality" were massively faked in workshops around the world ("solingen" running wolves, names of famous bladesmiths, the "sickle marks" and "half moons" so widely commented in these fora, etc.), so very probably that's exactly what you have here.
Nice blade, by the way.

3rd August 2008, 02:34 AM	#1
Valjhun Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 692	European sword marking identification Dear Friends, I've came along that sword, blade only. It has a marking inprinted in the tang. Can anybody identify it? Attached Images

3rd August 2008, 02:46 PM	#2
Marc Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Madrid / Barcelona Posts: 256	Well.... it seems a variation of the old punch mark for the city of Toledo, used by the trade inspectors and found in many 16th and 17th c. blades... only that these have the "o" above the "T", not below it, and, besides, this isn't exactly the kind of blade one would expect to see coming out of a Toledo workshop. On the other hand, marks associated with "quality" were massively faked in workshops around the world ("solingen" running wolves, names of famous bladesmiths, the "sickle marks" and "half moons" so widely commented in these fora, etc.), so very probably that's exactly what you have here. Nice blade, by the way.