David and Richard,
Both of you asked great questions. Everything I know about rhino horn is based on opinions and examples from this forum. In other threads I read that along the legth of the horn it should exhibit a fibrous structure similar to the one on my hilt, and if cut in an angle parallell to the blade, it should look somewhat like an orange skin. I took a picture of the pommel and I do see something like that. I am still not 100% sure, but it may be rhino. I was hoping it was not, so that I would not have any problems in case one day I decide to return to Bulgaria, where I am originally from.
If it is rhino, I would guess that it was original to the sword. You can see how the tang is peaned over the pommel. The guard is deffinitely not a replacement. The hilt is slightly loose, which I think is a result of the previous attempt to repair it, after it was attacked by dermestids or whatever those nasty little bugs that ruin horn hilts are called. Hence the few holes filled with epoxy. The band below the guard appears to be a replacement. It appears that during the repair from the bugs the hilt was disassembled and as the tang was peaned over it, the only way to do this was to take a chunk off the heel of the hilt, where now a small peace of sheet metal is fastened with the wire. Whoever did it was a poor craftsmen, but the damage is already done.
Regards,
Teodor
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