Hello all,
Thanks for the posts. For information, here are the comments of Mr. Juan J. Perez (moderator at Sword Forum International forum) on the katzbalger blade markings:
'Nice sword indeed. From the distance it looks good to me, although in such pieces one should be very cautious regarding authenticity.
The markings are quite typical from the Renaissance and the Germanic area. Moons are easily found on German blades up to the 18th century, while orbs are a medieval theme often found in the next centuries.'
I have some clues that clearly show that these exact 'three crescent moon motifs' and three 'orb and cross' motifs are indeed German of the 16th century period. Have to find once more this information on the web and will post them in the forum
jm