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If it were mine I would spend the time and money (?) to restore this interesting sword. Another possibility might be that this was ordered "shorter" to be used as a levy or "walking out sword". Levies were official events such as balls and Royal functions. A walking out sword would be a sword use worn when not of duty and yet still in uniform and out in public. Either way I would certainly restore this sword. Just be sure not to use a steel wire wheel. better left "under-cleaned" than ruin it by removing more metal or leaving scratches in the surface. On the topic of Sergeant's swords, the Sergeant's swords of the George IV era would most likely have pipe backed blades and not fullered. The Pattern 1854 is found with the pipe backed blades while officer's swords had the new Wilkinson Pattern (P.1854) fullered blade. Since Sergeants were issued swords I am assuming it was a matter of using up the old pipe backs as it would make financial sense since there would have been a lot of them in existence in warehouses that could not be used on officer's swords. It's been a while since we had a sword post, thanks for posting this intriguing topic. Regards Brian

Very nice bar! Congrats! Theodor Wiegand, bavarian Hauptmann der Landwehr, prussian geheimer Regierungsrat. Archeologist 1864-1936 Bar is made by Godet. Best, Daniel

Hello,the first photo says that is a visit to the Ist Belgian Army Corps in Cologne . the Corp was previously the Belgian Force of Occupation In Germany because the British shared their Zone with Belgians. The name of the Belgian General to the left of the photo appears to be Gierst . It says Earl Mountbatten SHAPE April 1958 The middle photo says Lt Col Mc Guinn US Rocket Batt Or Base , October 1958 Sonnenheim ? am Mainz

In theory, all coats of arms are unique with only one person having any one design. The traditional way of looking up coats of arms is to use Papworth's Ordinary of Arms, which is what I have done. The best fit is to the family of Neve of Norfolk (see extract below). The crescent in the top left quarter indicates that the descent is from a second son of the original grantee of arms. Source: https://archive.org/details/alphabeticaldicta02papw/page/655/mode/1up Fairbairn's Crests, however, says that the crest (over the shield) is of Neve of Tenterden, Kent. https://www.myfamilysilver.com/pages/crestfinder-crest.aspx?id=177482&name=Neve However, between the two sources, we can safely say that this is the heraldic achievement of the Neve family. But who AM is is another matter, of course! Edit: More research reveals what I should have realised: the Neave family also use this coat, with its most recent famous member being Airey Neave, of course. See near the bottom of this page, https://www.whitelionsociety.org.uk/news/6-news-from-the-college-of-arms This might be a fruitful area to search.

Thank you for posting these side-by-side images, Volovonok. They give a clearer indication of the complications of this issue. It is almost like the blade has been shortened from both ends. Let us hope that your examination of the etching throws more light unto this conundrum.

It is not a sergeant's sword as they were without engraving on the blade what-so-ever. There is a possibility for the short length and that is in the practice of rank purchase during this time period. A young man with "means" could purchase a entry level officer's rank and at times this could well result in the fine young officer and gentleman being of a shorter than average height compared with other officers. While it would appear that "regulations" were hard and fast rules when you read Robson and other experts work they are giving the reader what the regulations said but not necessarily what was always practised in the field. You can imagine a shorter than average young fellow with the regulation length blade looking quite odd so a shorter blade would make sense. There are examples of Royal Navy swords being shorter than regulation as these shorter bladed swords were worn by midshipmen who were often quite young. I would add that your sword is most interesting and well worth a place in your collection; had it come my way it would surely reside in my collection. Well done. Regards Brian