Chinese swords unfortunately don't come with dates and signatures, however there are exceptions. These are a set of butterfly swords owned by a security firm probably working out of Shanghai.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j65/pekhopai/pair.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j...erflyswords.jpg
They are utilitarian items without apparent pattern welding, but they are interesting in that they are dated. One of the set has the name of the security company "mounting gold" while the other has the date "yi ox". The date is part of a 60 year cycle indicating 1805 or 1865. The earlier possible date of 1755 is not likely, as I don't think this style of sword was used much then. The later date of 1925 would be after the fall of the Qing dynasty when such armed security firms were no longer around.
Any further information on dating these swords or other such tidbits would be greatly appreciated.
Josh