Interesting M 1827 Imperial Russian Pioneer's sword

[Oliver Pinchot]

A client of ours asked about this sword in his collection. It has been mounted with a steel guard, japanned black and numbered 20 in gold (paint.) Has anyone seen this configuration before? I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos, this was the best he could manage.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Oliver,
Had a straightforward one of these ages ago and have handled a couple more but I have never seen this particular configuration. A word of caution which you are probably aware of anyhow, there are quite good older reproductions of the standard version of this sword therefore I would be extra vigilant with anything involving this particular model.
My Regards,
Norman.

[Oliver Pinchot]

Thank you, Norm. It is authentic, hoping someone has seen this configuration out there somewhere.