Thank you for the welcome, Andrew. I've been lurking here for quite sometimes but never posted. It seems that for what little knowledge about Moro sundangs were shared, the values of these would rise. There's good and bad to this; good, in that the sellers and dealers are making profit, and bad, because it creates an elite group to collect these heirlooms. With that, most collections are tucked away, giving future collectors no chance of acquiring it, or future scholars to study these magnificent weapons. Though forum such as these exist to educate the public, most informations that are given lately about these swords, are erroneous in nature, almost laughable at times (e.g., the silver hilted barung awhile back...).
I will share what I know about this twisted core, since I have seen this type appearing quite a lot recently, and at the least it would be something that future collectors can go by. But most of all, I have the blessings of my grandfather to share this knowledge. Twisted cores such as the one shown were reserved for the panglimas, and not datus. Datus were dime a dozen, but to be a panglima is something else.
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