[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Mark Bowditch

I was inspecting the cartouche on the blade of Andrew's "Oldman" dha, and it struck me that it may well be a date written in Burmese numerals. They are very stretched out vertically, but I believe they read 1242 (if I am right, the first numeral should be a left-facing crescent, the second like the letter J without the cross at the top, the third sort of like a 9 but with an open loop, and the fourth again like a J). The Burmese calendar is based on the Chulasakarat Buddhist era, which adds 638 to the Western calendar. So if this is a date, it would be 1880.

It also looks vaguely like the Western date 1751, but I think it more likely is a Burmese date.

Do you have any close-ups of the cartouche, Andrew? I blew up a section of your picture, but it is pretty blurry.

I agree Mark: 1242 Chulasakarat (1880 AD).