http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=160439333804
I'm sure some folks on here may say it went for way to much considering the price of other swords of similar design and detail. But this sword has serious provenance which makes it really significant from a historical stand point.
It is etched "BALANTANG 21, NOV. 1899"
That would make this sword having true provenance, not only to Aguinaldos 1st Republic in the Visayas region, but to the "Battle of Balantang" between the US forces and Filipino soldiers at Jaro, Iloilo, Panay Island on Nov 21, 1899. To bad the seller did not know that to note it in the description. This specific battle is not well documented and is not well recognized amongst the other battles during the Philippine American War..but it is one of the greatest battles in the Visayan islands! It is of my own opinion it was not well recognized because of the lack of high ranking officers present at the battle, which inevitably always leads to lack of reported documentation and thus lack of significance in military history. But the soldiers who fought in this battle wrote and told its story. You can possibly rank it as one of the largest battles through out the islands, pitting 3,000 Filipino soldiers against 600 US Soldiers.
That price doesn't seem all that bad once you know the history...you might even say someone got lucky.
