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Originally Posted by Ian
Miguel:
Sorry to come to this one late. I recently returned from overseas and a bit jet lagged.
IMO Detlef has correctly identified the age of this one as around 1900 or a little earlier. The low quality blades were common, and they were essentially parade swords--for show rather than combat.
Surprisingly they are not all that rare given the history you noted. I think some that were confiscated were tucked away as "souvenirs" or sold off to foreigners. I have not seen any in my trips to Vietnam, but rather they seem to come up in European auctions and online from western dealers.
Ian.
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Hello Ian, Thank you for your comments, I agree with you and Detief regarding the date and with you regarding its use i.e. parade not combat. You are probably right about the confiscated weapons being kept as souvenirs and sold off but as the French had the best pick they would probably have taken them back to Europe. My youngest son normaly visits Vietnam once a year and he has not seen any there.
Regards
Miguel