Thank you Mark! I forgot about police swords, which do indeed fall into this civilian category that corresponds to maritime associated weapons. Since most of these are essentially private purchase of course, they are not as easy to identify as regulation.
This discussion really has gotten me intrigued with these rather obscure patterns, especially as they have so little data on them.
Ed, I think the main problem is that although it looks like a makers mark, no match or similar mark has yet been found to correspond, and the nature of the mark looks very much like merchants marks as described. Since this appears to be a commercially connected sword, there is a strong possibility of the marking placed much as those of East India Company on its weapons and those of the Dutch VOC as well. As Mark has noted, the Friedrich Holler time frame does fit loosely into the period this sword might have been used, but no confirmation of that marking for Holler or any maker has been found in the standard resources.
All best regards,
Jim
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