Friends, I want to echo/underline what Alan wrote: "...only a momentary custodian of it, his obligation was to ensure its preservation from the moment he accepted it into his care. If he did not understand this, then he was simply uneducated." In my own case, this has been my motto ever since I started collecting traditional edged weapons. I believe it is the only way one should treat these items, that makes sense. Furthermore, I hold that one should not try to collect them if one does not have this conviction. The same goes for the original muzzle loaders I have been able to collect.
Johan
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