Hi Jim,
thank you.
it is my personal opinion, not a hard truth.
orange red rust is a warning that it can be a recent oxidation, however water finds sudenly exposed to oxygen may have a surface orange oxidation arise. see for example the hilt 14th century sword/waterfind for conservation.
further I noticed that a part of the "storta" hilt is eaten away, and that the tip is broken off and re-welded, that you actually do not see in recent forgeries.
Furthermore, the value of this 17th century sword in excavated state is lower than the cost of making such a falsification.
best,
|