It Aerrived today. No pitting, some patination, engravings are clear and unworn. date is indeed 1870 very clearly, blade is sharp, feels good in the hand, flexes some, grip is all horn, what looks like a strap over the pommel into the notch is actually carved from the horn. hidden tang, Horn is cracked but tight to the blade. scabbard has steel ends, wood core, leather cover, turkish seam on back. suspension fitting has a fairly large knob with a hole that has a chain loop rather than a ring. tight fit to blade but fairly easy to draw. tip of scabbard is a bit damaged but blade is not protruding. Definitly not a swagger stick or a sword cane. the other cartouche seems to have some lettering that could possibly be in one of the caucasian/georgian character sets. not arabic. All in all, a conundrum. Love it.
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