Talismanic or just randomly placed copper dots

[kai]

Hello Ron,

... or perhaps just a certain blacksmith's method of strengthening the tang?

How would such a construction be stronger than a regular tang?

I've also heard the suggestion that this may have been done with blades where not enough material was left for forming a tang during the original forging. I don't think so: obviously the skill of the bladesmiths was high. Even if your pieces for the sandwich construction were not large enough for a tang, the easiest and stronger solution would still be to take an additional suitable piece of mild steel and weld it between the layers during the sandwich step...

Regards,
Kai