I thank you all for your time and for all your effort on trying to identify this knife/sword. The grip is oval shaped, not round as if turned on a lathe. The tang goes through the grip and is then is peened over. I will post a picture of the end of the hilt and of the guard tomorrow. The overall shape of the hilt is very reminiscent of hilts of Spanish Colonial weapons. Please see
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3404 Again I thank you all for your interest and help in trying to identify this unusual item.
Robert