Michael: Sorry for running up the bid a little higher than usuall on a mandau. When i see nice iban pieces, sometimes adrenaline takes over. I think Lew might be right. The scabbard looks newer, but the blade and handle look much older. Some one commented earlier about pieces that were in some museums that looked almost brand new, but with a provenance over 100 yrs old. This all depends on how well the sword was taken care of. If it was well taken care of by the owner and then put into a museum collection , then yes, it would look almost new. Our mandau collection numbers over 200 pieces, some low quality, some average quality, and some about as good as it can get. We started collecting mandaus over 20 yrs ago when no one wanted them......., they were considered JUNK, like moro swords and many other types of ethnic swords. How times have changed!!!!!!!!!!!!Dave.
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