Glen and Redline, spot on!!! Clemens & Jung, and as Lee astutely observed of course, a 19th century military blade. I agree this is most likely a theatrical item , and the much earlier period(s) purported by the hilt elements composite with a number at the forte (109) consistent with these kinds of circumstances with sword commerce in these times.
Lee, I very much related to the tale of the dealers who preyed on young collectors back in those days (for me mid 60s into 70s) and were masters of embellished stories to hawk their weapons. I too recall being hoodwinked out of some great items which were dismissed essentially as 'junk', only to discover years later to my dismay what they really were.
One of my most mourned losses was ....an espada ancha !!
Carlos, please know that while this sword may be a later theatrical piece, these are very much antiquities in their own right, and this may have been part of a famed theatrical group or theater in the late 19th c. There have been many remarkable items thought to be authentically early Spanish from areas here in the Southwest which have turned out to be theatrical yet have their own unique historical appeal.
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