G'day Patrick,
I can only comment from a British swords perspective, but like Victrix said, British swords were only sharpened when the owner left for active service. The type of edge they had prior to sharpening varies greatly depending on the sword. Here is an example in my collection circa 1814 which has a pipe-back blade similar to yours. The forward half of the blade was beautifully sharpened (probably only once), while the half closest to the hilt was left unsharpened. Sharp on top and unsharpened bottom.
Cheers,
Bryce
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