Sorry about the 'naval' mention and I didn't mean for it to set us off track. That particular aspect of a naval sword I've owned led to that discovery, but in fact any of these sabers that have the retention hole at the top of the knuckle bow are invariably 1790 up to 1800. You will note in the sword thread I posted, the knuckle bow has that swelled area where the knucklebow attaches to the hilt/pommel area, but no bored hole. I date mine to 1770's up to 1790-ish. It appears this hole device became the fashion around the 1790 period (last decade of the 18th c.) to have this little hole, sometimes with ring attachment. Don't ask me what the h#ll it was for!!
I will also say that because this was such a fashion on English officer's swords (infantry, naval, NCO) that sometimes an earlier sword, say from the 1770's or so, had the hole drilled out at a later time. I've only seen this once, however. I do wish I can remember the EXACT source for this info, as I know its important to substantiate sources. I will try to look through my books for the pinpoint info. In the meantime, we are only talking about a difference in about 20 years or so. Spadroons (and other officer-type swords from the UK) circa 1770's up to 1800 have very little differences in their patterns.
Glenn, are you out there, buddy? You might weigh in on this one?
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