Tourist or treasure?
 

This is coming up for auction in a few days locally, and while my instincts say "Good, spend lots of money!", I figured I should enquire of you guys first. Looks to me to probably be Ottoman and righteous, the preview description says camel bone and silver, and I think I've seen the roaring-lionhead style pommel before on Yataghans.

Still, I would appreciate any advice about what to look and consider when bidding for when I see it in person later in the week.

Tourist :(

Currently made in India.

I agree-tourist

yeah, definitely tourist, very recent, and from India where a lot of this stuff is coming from. Now worth any money at this point. No where near Ottoman.

Good idea asking us before the auction. A lot of people get burned by lack of knowledge and seller's descriptions.

I'm just used to ornate toughras and the style seemed not implausible. I tend to stick with the mass-produced martial blades for the simple reason that I can't for the life of me tell trash from treasure. I buy a lot for the sake of curiosity and because most antique dealers won't touch the stuff, and am consistently shocked what's good and what's bad.

Still gonna go to the auction, there's other things I want. Just think I'll bid $10 instead of $100.

Well said, Battara. People get burned by ignorance and not following the ancient advice: "Study without thinking and you are blind. Think without studying and you are in danger". :-)

Varook, this is not a Tugra on the blade, just a coftgari decorative cartouche. Again, nothing even remotely resembling Ottoman. It's perfectly ok if you collect new or souvenir weapons, but do not make a mistake of thinking anything is a "treasure".... until you study, learn and can tell the difference. Good Luck to you!