North west African swords & leather get to look very old very quickly..
Do you think locals will buy a sword even for dancing that doesn't cut? Why? there poor so you might as well have a sword that cuts.....
Tourism was common there from the early 70s....
But you pays your money & takes your choice,
In my collecting Id rather have 1 museum worthy,high quality very early or unusual historical piece than 15 bits of the lowest quality echelon , but that's just me, many collectors prefer to buy cheap & pile high... I guess its all good.
And there collections are much larger than mine!
I like cheap old poor condition genuine pieces for study, but cant comprehend why people want modern virtually non functional pieces? To my mind a sword should cut!
But that's just me , fool as I am...
spiral