A Foil and Hunting Swords

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Okay... after an entire day waiting for the photos to get downloaded I've finally got what I need for this post. First up is one that I got from an ad in the paper. A lady was selling off her late husbands collection. To be honest, she didn't have anything spectacular by the look of things. A Sears .22 rifle from the 60's or 70's, a few swords and knives... which honestly looked touristy or maybe good... maybe not (hopefully we'll find out on at least a couple of them soon, and a few canes. She really seemed determined to sell them even though I told her there just wasn't much value there and most of it was really not much good for what I collected. But she was so insistant that finally I just made her an offer of $100 for the lot more or less because I thought she'd consider it too little and decide to just keep the ad in and sell to others. But she said that would be fine... so I gave her her money, loaded up the stuff and went home. I've basically had all the stuff sitting around for ages ever since.

So first off is what I'm assuming is a foil. It looks old... may be "good" or may just be tourist made... no idea. Either way, here it is:

[Hauptmann]

Okay, now for the other one from that group. I'm assuming this is an old hunting dagger. As with the foil there was no scabbard. What you see is what I got. Again nothing fancy... but I've always been curious to learn more about it if possible.

[Hauptmann]

[Hauptmann]

Now this one I know is an Imperial German hunting sword. I got it at one of my first shows. I think the seller was asking $90 but we chatted for a bit... it was close to the end of the show and I walked out with it at $75. No idea if I did well or not. It has a couple of problems, at least. One, it's missing one of the acorn decorations on the grip. Second, the stitching on much of the leather on the one side has given way with age. Third, this is definitely an example of a mishandled blade that was not cared for. And a shame too as it has a beautiful scene engraved on each side. Again no idea if there's a way to restore this blade to more of it's original glory.

Anyhow I gave this to Kim and every time someone would come over and see the den (where she keeps it) she very proudly points out that that is one of her pieces. She's always been very happy with it, warts and all. I'd love to get her an even nicer one some day so that's yet another goal sitting around waiting to be fulfilled.

[Hauptmann]

[Hauptmann]

Again, there's probably nothing earth shattering here... but if nothing else I think they are interesting. I hope some of you share that view.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.

Dan

[peter monahan]

Dan

The hunting swords are Nice !!

The "foil" looks like a product of the Spanish "sword" industry IMHO. The punched decoration on the hilt are usually a giveaway: "It's gotta be fancier. Give it to the kid and tell him not to cut himself." Easy to do, aesthetically blah, but makes it look "hand crafted". The other two make up for it, though. They're keepers for sure.

Peter

[George Anderson]

Your last blade, the Hirschfaenger, was one hell of a deal at $75. In its condition it should bring about $200. I would suggest that you dismount the shell and put it on the other side (outward) of the guard and orient it in the other direction so that the shell covers the upper portion of the scabbard when put in the scabbard. It is upsidedown and backward now.

[Hauptmann]

Your last blade, the Hirschfaenger, was one hell of a deal at $75. In its condition it should bring about $200. I would suggest that you dismount the shell and put it on the other side (outward) of the guard and orient it in the other direction so that the shell covers the upper portion of the scabbard when put in the scabbard. It is upsidedown and backward now.

Hi George,

Hmmmm, had no idea that was the case. As many of these as I've seen in books and such I don't know why it didn't hit me. Will definitely (and carefully) give that a try.

Also the $75 I paid was about twenty some odd years ago. But very glad to hear it has gone up. I'll have to pass that along to Kim as this is her pride and joy!

Many thanks for the info!

Dan