Thank you very much for the clarification, Ron. I'll follow you in accepting these terms.
On another note, I've finally got pictures (well, drawings) of European-made shotel blades. This gentleman was kind enough to scan some pages from Wilkinson and Solingen catalogues:
http://forums.swordforum.com/showpos...0&postcount=13
These date from the early 1900s.
Regards,
Emanuel