I always find it very difficult to appraise something from a photo, even a very good photo, and even things I'm supposed to know a little bit about.
As David has pointed out, this jambiya sold to somebody who had handled it. If the price went to this level, it means there were at least two people who thought it was worth that much.
I have no idea at all what it is worth, but I do know this:- the price realised for this dagger is not at all high when compared on a present day value basis with the prices that superior eastern weaponry brought in the 1960's through to the 1990's.
Similarly, compare this price with prices of Japanese weaponry, or even of very good keris. Two Balinese keris that came from the Raja of Badung in about 1988 sold not long after this to a Swiss collector for the equivalent of $US20,000 and $US30,000.
Over the years Balinese keris have come up periodically that have achieved prices of $US10,000 to over $US100,000.
Three years or so ago I acquired a tombak without any dress, just the blade, that cost me near enough to $US9000.
In the mid 1960's a Balinese keris without a scabbard achieved the equivalent of $US2940 (1050 pounds) at Christies in London. What would that be, expressed in present day terms? If I apply the Rule of Eight (the value of limited commodities will double every eight years) this becomes $US94,080. Yes, I know its a simplistic rule, its only intended as a rule of thumb, but it often does give a result that approximates reality. In the case of this Bali keris, its perhaps a little bit high, but not much.
If this jambiya is any good, and apparently a couple of people thought that it is, the price it achieved could well be seen to be low in a very short period of time. There never was a lot of really good weaponry, and the amount offered in the marketplace is becoming less and less.
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