I have been wondering about these wire wrapped swords for a while. I think they are Republican pieces, though some may be very late Qing. What I am wondering about is the blade. I own a jian with a wire wrapped scabbard that appears about as modern as an antique can be. In some ways this is good. It is in good condition with a spotless blade in its original polish, but there are some things that can be less attractive about later Chinese swords. In particular, the blade on the jian I own appears to be mono-steel, and there is a nut on the pommel. I am not completely sure about the steel because I haven't wanted to etch the blade in case it is nickel-plated. Still it rings when you draw it in a way that none of my sanmei blades do.
So I would guess that the one you missed was of roughly the same era and quality as my jian. It may well have had a nickel-plated mono-steel blade of good quality, but not as nice as Qing inserted edge pieces. There is another possibility; apparently there was also a weird transition period where they were nickel-plating pattern welded blades. Unfortunately you can’t find out without ruining the plating.
Josh