What Kind of Sword Is This?

by Charlie Evans
(Locust Grove, VA, USA)

My nephew recently purchased this sword from a small shop here in Virginia, where a woman whose husband recently passed away brought it in to sell on consignment. The woman knew very little about it, so naturally the store owner did not either. I've been Googling and surfing websites, but either I'm not looking in the right places or I'm just not finding the right expert. So, when I found your site I thought you might finally have the answer. Any ideas at all?

Comments for What Kind of Sword Is This?

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It is a Filipino Sandata
by: Paul

It is a little hard to classify the exact type of sword from the pictures, but it is definitely a Filipino sword (Sandata), probably from Mindanao and was likely purchased there while on vacation quite a few years ago.

Here is a recently made sword which looks quite similar in overall style and design.

It is unlikely to be particularily valueable or a true antique of any type, but depending on how sturdy the construction is, could fetch up to $100 typically (from the patina on the blade, it is definitely carbon steel)..

Hope this helps, at least from here you should be able to refine the search for more info.

- Paul

Type
by: Jonathan

It's a kris, but I don't know what group. There were some with straight blades made occasionally.

Keris Panjang
by: Afif

Seeing from the picture, it looks like a keris panjang/long kris from Melaka, Malaysia. Back in the day it's something the King would give to the Lords governing the lands as a proof of power.

Your sword...
by: S.Thomas

Looks like a Moro kris; Moro (ethnic group in Phillipines) kris often have one or two brass bands around the base of the blade like yours. Haven`t seen such on keris made elsewhere. There`s more to it than that, however, but I`m giving it to you concisely, and I`ll include references for you to peruse. IMHO, "...might get up to $100"... Exercise great caution. Authentic antique Moro kris sell for thousands of dollars. Yours looks very real; dunno if it`s antique, but the number of times someone who doesn`t know much about what they have has been ripped off by someone who knows a great deal could fill a multivolume edition of folios. For your own sake, keep a tight hold on it, don`t sell it to anyone saying, "I`ll even give you one twenty `cuz I wouldn`t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I gave you any less". Be paranoid of scam artists trying to get it away from you under some pretense "My uncle lives across town and he`s an expert; I could run it over to him real quick and come back with an appraisal..."...
Remove the spaces between the last letters of these URLs; food for thought and candy for the eyes...
http://oriental-arms.com/items.php?coll=2&cat= 5
http://atkinson-swords.com/collection-by-type/moro-kriss--sundang /

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