Here are some shots of my enlisted man's boarding cutlass. And I agree, it's function certainly is apparent when you heft it.
This shows the grip which was often varnished to retard rotting. Stripping the brass wire off was evidentially common. Remember that the enlisted mens weapons were racked while the officer's were presumably with the officers. That's actually an interesting queston. Did officiers keep their weapns with them?
Here is a close up of the rack number.
And here is the inspection mark and date. The other side says that it was manufactured by Ames.
