Help in Identifying the age/origin of this barong

[hattriq27]

I apologize in advance for the bad cell phone pics, I plan to take some better ones but once I tell the story of how I came across this you'll understand why I was in a hurry

So I stop by my Mom's house and she remembers she had "picked me up something" at a local flea market. She comes into the kitchen and says, "I know you like stuff like this and when I saw it I thought of you so I picked it up. Hope you like it. If not I only spent $2.00 on it."

I know it is a barong but based on some history the lady gave to my Mom about it I want to say Spanish American War era. I am afraid to put any chemicals on the metal wrap to see if it's aluminum or silver.

Any input would be appreciated. And now for the pic, it is next to a Kershaw Leek which is about 7" in length open. I didn't measure the blade yet but guess that it's about 15" long:



and some links to larger pics:

http://theplayershq.com/usn/blade_large.jpg
http://theplayershq.com/usn/hilt_side.jpg
http://theplayershq.com/usn/hilt_bottom.jpg
http://theplayershq.com/usn/top.jpg