Ethiopian or Eritrean Shotel

roanoa · 14th August 2017, 06:29 PM

VIVA IL RE (Long live the king) was a common inscription on Italian blades at the time of the Italian unification (1860) and it refers to King Vittorio Emanuale the SECOND, not the THIRD (who is the one depicted in the coin).
The use of this coin and the Italian blade points to an Eritrea shotel, though it could be Ethiopian. Also, the blade is Italian, but it seems, because of the engraved decorative pattern, that it may have manufactured in Solingen. As a last comment, the 1780 Maria Theresa thaler (Austrian coin) was an "official" currency in Abyssinia because of the guaranteed high silver content. The thaler was minted for Abyssinia in very large quantities well into the XX century, and it has to be noted that thalers minted in Austria as late as 1950 are still dated 1780.

drac2k · 14th August 2017, 08:19 PM

Thank you for the useful comments.The reason why I attributed the coin as depicting King Emanuale the third, is because of the Roman numeral III after his name on the coin.
One can also see that the coin is a later replacement for what would have been a dome like cap on the pommel.

Jim McDougall · 19th November 2022, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roanoa

It's been five years since the last posting..... Just found this GORADE up for auction. It strongly supports the suggestion that the shotel was re-forged from a sabre. Same decoration, same inscription VIVA IL RE.....Food for thoughts.

This was a great thread, very informative! but it sure seems like a lot of work to take a regular blade and rework it into a curved blade like this. Maybe its really not, but sure seems that way to me.

I have only a shotel, and a gurade shown here for comparison, and since they have basically the same type hilt, why would the effort be made to rework a blade into sickle type? unless of course it was a heirloom or trophy blade, but there again, why?

kronckew · 24th November 2022, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

...

I have only a shotel, and a gurade shown here for comparison, and since they have basically the same type hilt, why would the effort be made to rework a blade into sickle type? unless of course it was a heirloom or trophy blade, but there again, why?

OP Blade could have originally been double edged, so they made it into a shotel. If itr had been single edged, they'd make it into a gurade.

14th August 2017, 06:29 PM	#1
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 241	VIVA IL RE (Long live the king) was a common inscription on Italian blades at the time of the Italian unification (1860) and it refers to King Vittorio Emanuale the SECOND, not the THIRD (who is the one depicted in the coin). The use of this coin and the Italian blade points to an Eritrea shotel, though it could be Ethiopian. Also, the blade is Italian, but it seems, because of the engraved decorative pattern, that it may have manufactured in Solingen. As a last comment, the 1780 Maria Theresa thaler (Austrian coin) was an "official" currency in Abyssinia because of the guaranteed high silver content. The thaler was minted for Abyssinia in very large quantities well into the XX century, and it has to be noted that thalers minted in Austria as late as 1950 are still dated 1780. Last edited by roanoa; 14th August 2017 at 07:52 PM.

14th August 2017, 08:19 PM	#2
drac2k Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 1,255	Thank you for the useful comments.The reason why I attributed the coin as depicting King Emanuale the third, is because of the Roman numeral III after his name on the coin. One can also see that the coin is a later replacement for what would have been a dome like cap on the pommel.