Spanish 1843 Machete by Bermejo Toledo 1988

[Will M]

I acquired this 1843 pattern Spanish presentation machete made by Bermejo, Toledo. It is dated 1988 and is one of forty made. It is very well made and substantial piece. OAL 22", blade is 2 1/6" wide and 3/16" thick at ricasso. Has a solid brass hilt.
Accompanying letter states:

Machete Model 1843 for Infantry Non-Commissioned Officer.

This machete is an exact copy of the one that, throughout the entire last half of the past century, was used by the Spanish infantry in all its campaigns.

The hilt is a copy of Roman swords and is composed of a brass pommel shaped like a lion’s head, engraved, and a crossguard in the same material with straight arms and decorative ends.

The blade is wide, single-edged with a pronounced point, made of polished carbon steel.

Bermejo Swordsmith guarantees that this piece has been entirely made in its Toledo workshops and corresponds to No. 13 of a limited series of 40 pieces, produced on the occasion of the Meeting of Directors of the Armored Weapons Schools, held in Toledo in 1988.

(Signature and stamp)

Mr. Juan G. Ojano
Director.

[midelburgo]

I have seen those machetes with different celebratory inscriptions, so probably there are more than 40 there outside.

Sometimes, the sellers ask as much as for a real original one what is ridiculous. The originals are not rare but often their condition is poor, as if abused for 50 years, so the better ones are not cheap.

[ausjulius]

Bermejo was a producer of military issue swords and drinks until a few years ago 10 years maybe. They went bankrupt producing a huge order for Colombia that was never paid for I believe. The company was purchased by windlass steel crafts in India 😐. The Indians only purchase them to get rid of them as Bermejo was quite active in the USA and south America, central American markets. . The Indians just took the brand and stock they had and I believe some of their tools and closed it down. Bermejo forged blades by hand. Freehand on the power hammer.
Now in Europe there is only two makers of swords that actually make the military swords one in France chavilier and one in Italy Fratelli Turco. Others just resell

[Will M]

Thanks for the interesting information. This expains when I googled the company and asked what the letter said they replied they had no idea, try AI.
Too bad they were bought out just to remove competition. This machete is much better quality than anything from Windlass I've seen.

[Dmitry]

I thought that Gastador meant a "sapeur" or "engineer".

[Rick]

It does look more like a Sapper's sword; handier for chopping thicker stuff than the Machete, I wonder if any came to the U.S. in the aftermath of the Span-AM, war.
Also, do any of our members possess one from that era? :)