Excellent post, gents. One I am definately interested in hearing about, although not very knowledgible in. A question that I have always had concerning mourning swords is whether they were originally carried as side pieces and then later blackened for the occasion. I presently have a blackened smallsword in my collection and it seems quite functional as a true working piece vs just an adornment for funerary occasions. As smallswords were known to be carried by some naval officers, I kept it as a representation piece.
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