Swiss saber with inscription "ANNA" (?)

[urbanspaceman]

Originally Posted by ulfberth

Hi Robin,
the word ANNA is not a makers mark , in the cristian context it means " favorite " or refers to Marie the Holly Mother.
The Romans named a year cycle ANNA , like we still use the word ANNO.
It is found every now and then mostly on 16th century blades, and i think your blade is 16th C the hilt around 1700, nothing wrong with that this is clearly mounted with an older blade during or at start of its working life.
I never saw a number following after the word ANNA as we do see it after the word ANNO.
In this case its refering to Marie and - or " the favorite" , in the same way as we find "MARIA" and "IESVS" on swords blades in the 16th and 17th c,
kind regards
Ulfberth

Thank-you for that information, which is all new to me.
Did you notice that there are the remains of additional lettering above the ANNA on one side.
Any clue as to what they might be.