Hello Dave,
this one was on my watch list as well. I would say that this talibon was certainly in use and don't is one of this early tourist talibons. The handle isn't so unusual you maybe think, have a look to this thread in the old forum:
http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001242.html
You will see there some other with similar handles. Nice talibon!
Regards,
Detlef