Philippine or Confederate?

[Battara]

I'm in agreement so far 👍

[Marcus]

They might have done better if they had etched "9th Manchu Regt." and made the date 1901 instead of 1861, then they could have tried to pass it off as associated with in the massacre of Balangiga in Samal, September 28 1901.

[Oliver Pinchot]

They would have done best to leave it alone

[David]

Originally Posted by Oliver Pinchot

They would have done best to leave it alone

Absolutely. I am afraid i have to concur with Oliver that these markings were somebody's lame attempt to try to pass this off as a Civil War weapon. It is clearly a Philippines blade. If the inscription was shallow enough i would even consider buffing it off, but it probably runs to deep for that. A beautiful knife regardless.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by David

It is clearly a Philippines blade. If the inscription was shallow enough i would even consider buffing it off, but it probably runs to deep for that. A beautiful knife regardless.

Agree with you David! I also would try to buffing it off.

Regards,
Detlef

[Marcus]

I would not dream of buffing it out. Its story is its story.

[David]

Originally Posted by Marcus

I would not dream of buffing it out. Its story is its story.

Well, i believe it is its outright "lie" more than its "story" Marcus. IMHO it is more like ugly graffiti on a beautiful building. To conserve the building i would remove the graffiti if possible and return it to its original and intended condition. What's more, it's grafiti meant to deceive. The only "story" this tells is that someone in contemporary times saw fit to deface this hilt in an attempt to defraud the public. This is not a part of this knife ethnographic history though. History perhaps, but not one i see any reason to preserve. It is wholly unrelated to its life and use in its cultural environment. So if it were mine and if the inscription was shallow enough to buff out without removing an obvious amount of material from the hilt i would not hesitate to do so. Of course it is not mine and the damage may be to great to repair. But we each have to do what we see as right for our own collections. I was not suggesting that you need to do what i suggest, only saying what i would do if it were mine and possible.