THai?!?!?! SWORD?

peter jensen · 9th October 2005, 10:44 PM

i have found this sword from a nazi memorabilia vendor at a flea market. with all of the research ive done online i have only come to 2 similarities... the ahka tribe in thailand pommel ... and the afgan executioner's/chopman's blade and hilt... i am so very very confused!! i have absolutely no clue of the origin of this sword, it is beautiful , but unless the hilt is silver (a good possibility) i dont think it is worth much. if anyone has EVEN A CLUE please reply and let me know what you think! please... even a point in the right direction...

by the way ( total length 2 feet 7'' hilt depth 1'' hilt width 1-1/2'' widest width of blade 2-3/8'')

RhysMichael · 10th October 2005, 12:25 AM

I have seen the same "naga" style hilt on some contemporary thai tourists grade swords. Probably one on ebay now. But I have never seen that type of blade on a thai sword

Andrew · 10th October 2005, 12:26 AM

Welcome, Peter.

Interesting sword. I can see a bit of SEA (Burma or Thailand) influence in the handle marking motifs and the pommel. A few poor quality swords with similar pommels have been appearing on ebay recently, advertised as Thai.

The blade is unlike any I've seen on a Thai sword. It vaguely reminds me of fantasy "scimitars", and the occasional bolo or machete.

A few questions:

How is the blade affixed to the hilt?
Is the handle round in cross-section?
What is the blade cross-section? A wedge? Peaked at the spine?
Is there any evidence of hardening on the blade?
Any markings on the blade?
Why do you think the handle is silver? Could it be another white metal? Is it soft?

Best,
Andrew

Andrew · 10th October 2005, 12:27 AM

Posting at the same time, JT.

peter jensen · 10th October 2005, 01:03 PM

i know what you mean , the sword is welded/forged, its not poor made however , and there are some markings on the blade(grooves from shaping/sharpening) and some small dents that look like from another sword, i can see JUST BARLEY how they tempered on the spine by slight indentations, and it had a good bit of rust that i cleaned off like a fool , and by the color of stain i think it could be blood too , not sure though...,also i thought it could be silver, but that was a big could be .. i have alot of silver and it seems closest to silver, it isnt alumin , and it isnt pewter.. and from the looks of where it came from i dont really know what metal they have access to. IVE TRYED LOOKING ON EBAY! i couldnt find ANYTHING.
oh and for the pic below , you can see the grooves if you look hard, sorry i couldnt get some better pics of it on here, good news is next week im going hunting for more swords, ill try and pic up a better digi cam

peter jensen · 10th October 2005, 01:08 PM

handle isnt soft....well im not metal expert though, and the handle is oval a perfect fit to the hand i might say, im not sure what the blades cross section IS . sorry im not to good with sword term. and ive had a couple peopple tell me it looks like a bolo too. like i said , ive only seen the ahka pommel and the entire (blade and handle) like that on afghan(?) executions sword .. so im not too sure where to go from here

RhysMichael · 11th October 2005, 02:07 PM

put " Thai sword naga " in the search or just "thai sword" and you will find a similar naga on a wooden handle on the sword. The same dealer has one of the metal handled tourist dha that does not have the naga head. I did see a carved ivory naga similar to this on a sword the other day. I will try to find where I saw it.

Mark · 11th October 2005, 05:09 PM

The only thing I have to add to JT's and Andrew's comments is that the handle might be a tin alloy (like pewter). It is called "Bakka" tine, or "Baga" tin, or something like that. It is a common material for pots, dishes, etc. in SEA, and is pretty hard.

peter jensen · 13th October 2005, 11:55 AM

yeah ive seen the similar pommel too, on those ebay swords. but this sword is different, in the pommel with the mouth being more representitive of idol statues i remember seeing somewhere (probably on tv) , and the complete handle design and blade are also not like those wooden ebay swords. this sword didnt come with its original sheath either, so i couldnt tell you about that. there are no markings indicating the maker(no script*). i want to know where this influence came from .. the pommel and blade combonation. if its another cheap ripoff or if is kosher. its one of the nicer made swords i have(i have 2 cheap ripoffs) and this sword takes some damage... you could definatley chop down some trees with it and it wouldnt break. and i got it from a nazi sword guy, he told me he got his swords overseas, but i didnt ask about this one in particular, seeing as how it was the only one without a swastika on the handle or blade- and i thought he wouldnt know too much about it. i dont think he particularly decided to purchase off ebay. and the stain of rust is deep. very very deep. i would say about 1/20'' deep. im thinking its about 50 or 60 years old.. (i re rusted it on a single spot for 2 weeks and the rust didnt even appear on the blade) so it must have been laying on a wet ground for while unatended to. well i dont know what else to say bout it .. like i said , if you guys know anything else just lemme know ... oh the blade isnt very magnetic, and the handle isnt at all .

9th October 2005, 10:44 PM	#1
peter jensen Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	THai?!?!?! SWORD? i have found this sword from a nazi memorabilia vendor at a flea market. with all of the research ive done online i have only come to 2 similarities... the ahka tribe in thailand pommel ... and the afgan executioner's/chopman's blade and hilt... i am so very very confused!! i have absolutely no clue of the origin of this sword, it is beautiful , but unless the hilt is silver (a good possibility) i dont think it is worth much. if anyone has EVEN A CLUE please reply and let me know what you think! please... even a point in the right direction... by the way ( total length 2 feet 7'' hilt depth 1'' hilt width 1-1/2'' widest width of blade 2-3/8'') Attached Images

10th October 2005, 01:03 PM	#5
peter jensen Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	Thai i know what you mean , the sword is welded/forged, its not poor made however , and there are some markings on the blade(grooves from shaping/sharpening) and some small dents that look like from another sword, i can see JUST BARLEY how they tempered on the spine by slight indentations, and it had a good bit of rust that i cleaned off like a fool , and by the color of stain i think it could be blood too , not sure though...,also i thought it could be silver, but that was a big could be .. i have alot of silver and it seems closest to silver, it isnt alumin , and it isnt pewter.. and from the looks of where it came from i dont really know what metal they have access to. IVE TRYED LOOKING ON EBAY! i couldnt find ANYTHING. oh and for the pic below , you can see the grooves if you look hard, sorry i couldnt get some better pics of it on here, good news is next week im going hunting for more swords, ill try and pic up a better digi cam Attached Images

10th October 2005, 01:08 PM	#6
peter jensen Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	oh andrew handle isnt soft....well im not metal expert though, and the handle is oval a perfect fit to the hand i might say, im not sure what the blades cross section IS . sorry im not to good with sword term. and ive had a couple peopple tell me it looks like a bolo too. like i said , ive only seen the ahka pommel and the entire (blade and handle) like that on afghan(?) executions sword .. so im not too sure where to go from here

10th October 2005, 12:25 AM	#2
RhysMichael Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Virginia Posts: 520	I have seen the same "naga" style hilt on some contemporary thai tourists grade swords. Probably one on ebay now. But I have never seen that type of blade on a thai sword

10th October 2005, 12:26 AM	#3
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Welcome, Peter. Interesting sword. I can see a bit of SEA (Burma or Thailand) influence in the handle marking motifs and the pommel. A few poor quality swords with similar pommels have been appearing on ebay recently, advertised as Thai. The blade is unlike any I've seen on a Thai sword. It vaguely reminds me of fantasy "scimitars", and the occasional bolo or machete. A few questions: How is the blade affixed to the hilt? Is the handle round in cross-section? What is the blade cross-section? A wedge? Peaked at the spine? Is there any evidence of hardening on the blade? Any markings on the blade? Why do you think the handle is silver? Could it be another white metal? Is it soft? Best, Andrew

10th October 2005, 12:27 AM	#4
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Posting at the same time, JT.

11th October 2005, 02:07 PM	#7
RhysMichael Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Virginia Posts: 520	put " Thai sword naga " in the search or just "thai sword" and you will find a similar naga on a wooden handle on the sword. The same dealer has one of the metal handled tourist dha that does not have the naga head. I did see a carved ivory naga similar to this on a sword the other day. I will try to find where I saw it.

11th October 2005, 05:09 PM	#8
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	The only thing I have to add to JT's and Andrew's comments is that the handle might be a tin alloy (like pewter). It is called "Bakka" tine, or "Baga" tin, or something like that. It is a common material for pots, dishes, etc. in SEA, and is pretty hard.

13th October 2005, 11:55 AM	#9
peter jensen Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	yeah ive seen the similar pommel too, on those ebay swords. but this sword is different, in the pommel with the mouth being more representitive of idol statues i remember seeing somewhere (probably on tv) , and the complete handle design and blade are also not like those wooden ebay swords. this sword didnt come with its original sheath either, so i couldnt tell you about that. there are no markings indicating the maker(no script*). i want to know where this influence came from .. the pommel and blade combonation. if its another cheap ripoff or if is kosher. its one of the nicer made swords i have(i have 2 cheap ripoffs) and this sword takes some damage... you could definatley chop down some trees with it and it wouldnt break. and i got it from a nazi sword guy, he told me he got his swords overseas, but i didnt ask about this one in particular, seeing as how it was the only one without a swastika on the handle or blade- and i thought he wouldnt know too much about it. i dont think he particularly decided to purchase off ebay. and the stain of rust is deep. very very deep. i would say about 1/20'' deep. im thinking its about 50 or 60 years old.. (i re rusted it on a single spot for 2 weeks and the rust didnt even appear on the blade) so it must have been laying on a wet ground for while unatended to. well i dont know what else to say bout it .. like i said , if you guys know anything else just lemme know ... oh the blade isnt very magnetic, and the handle isnt at all .