Bronze/copper dagger blade
 

Hi all,

I am hoping some of you may have some insights into the pictured item. I believe there are a host of, shall we say, less than authentic examples of bronze age weaponry. I picked up this dagger/spear blade recently. The auction stated it was a copper blade. The auction company specializes in jewelry, so they usually get metal composition correct. One side has a robust patina, but I know more experienced members here can speak to how 'correct' the oxidation looks. The other side is much more clean (see the last picture).

So, here is my puzzle...if this is a recently manufactured piece, why only artificially age the one side? To me, it seems a former owner tried to clean and polish the one side. This does not mean it is authentic. Also, the cleaned side does look to be more copper than bronze; does anyone know of a way to determine for sure.

Thanks, as always. If this is of recent origin, I would like to mount a hilt on it to approximate a true ancient dagger. However, I don't want to ruin something that may be an actual artifact, so I am turning to you good folks.

thanks,
-Rob