[Tim Simmons]

I do not think this is from Benin. To me it looks more like from further south to the present day Nigeria/Cameroon. There are many bronze and brass bladed weapons from Africa. What bothers me is all mine have clean blades. The patina on this is extreamly strong, also covering the blade which does make me wonder that somebody has worked very hard here.
Here is some metal work from the same regions. I am not an expert but I would not spend too much money on this. It is just so heavy patinated and the symbolisim is not terribly clear. Fon artifacts are often made to look arcane but this is not Fon. The artifacts in the first two pics I show, I know they were collected at the begining of the turn of the 19/20th century I bought most of the collection. Why they are so patinated is hard to say. I have not read of of the need to express antiquity in the artifacts of this region. Perhaps they have been in the ground. I think there is some difference it the green stain. I could be wrong.