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Forum Index > Historical Arms Talk > Show Us Your Antique Medieval Swords! Reply to topic
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Craig Peters




PostPosted: Mon 31 Jan, 2011 4:19 am    Post subject: Show Us Your Antique Medieval Swords!         Reply with quote

Yes, a website such as myArmoury can hardly consider itself complete with a thread of this sort, even if it has very few responses. If you are the rare, lucky owner of an antique medieval sword, show it off to us!

The Rules:

1) In case you missed the title: no reproductions. Originals, only.

2) This needs to be a sword in that you or another private collector owns. Makers and manufacturers, if you've taken photographs or documented originals, they don't belong in this thread, unless you personally own the medieval sword you're documenting. If you have a friend who is not on this forum that owns an antique medieval sword, and you get their permission to put up photos, then go for it- just be sure to acknowledge who the owner is.

3) I'll define "Medieval" pretty broadly as the period from 500 CE to 1500 CE. If you've got a 16th or 17th C original, sorry, this is not the right thread.

4) You can post swords that you own from other regions of the world outside of Europe, provided they fall within the aforementioned dates.
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Craig Peters




PostPosted: Sat 16 Jul, 2011 3:07 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Despite my hopes that this thread would have a few members posting pictures of their antique medieval swords, not a single person replied. I know that there are forum members out there who have originals, but so far, nothing has been posted yet. Since this is my own thread, I have decided to cheat a bit; I will now change it so that any antique medieval weapons can be posted here, whether swords, daggers, spear heads, bolt and arrow heads, mace heads, axes, polearms or otherwise. To get the ball rolling, I'll post my own recent acquisition.
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Shahril Dzulkifli




Location: Malaysia
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Likes: 1 page

Posts: 1,265

PostPosted: Wed 10 Aug, 2011 5:29 am    Post subject: Show Us Your Antique Medieval Swords!         Reply with quote

That's very complicated. Many antique medieval swords would end up in museums, not antique shops.
“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength”

- Marcus Aurelius
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Cornelis Tromp




Location: Holland
Joined: 03 Jan 2010

Posts: 87

PostPosted: Fri 12 Aug, 2011 10:10 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Craig,

I already have a number of original sword posted on this forum, is there a specific type of sword you are interested in?

best,
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Job Overbeek





Joined: 21 Apr 2011

Posts: 49

PostPosted: Fri 12 Aug, 2011 12:21 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'll have a look, my late grandfather once dug up a blade, from what I recall it's a most likely a rapier (and far gone on the road towards oxidation).
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Gene W




Location: The South Of England
Joined: 01 Dec 2010

Posts: 116

PostPosted: Fri 12 Aug, 2011 4:09 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Come on Craig, give us a chance Wink
How about a 'favourite relic' thread?
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Mike Capanelli




Location: Whitestone, NY
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Likes: 4 pages
Reading list: 5 books

Posts: 702

PostPosted: Fri 12 Aug, 2011 7:29 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Cornelis Tromp wrote:
Hi Craig,

I already have a number of original sword posted on this forum, is there a specific type of sword you are interested in?

best,


Actually I'll take you up on that. Do you have any XVIIIb or c in your collection you could share with us?

Winter is coming
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Jan Svejkovsky




Location: San Diego
Joined: 04 Oct 2007

Posts: 25

PostPosted: Sun 14 Aug, 2011 10:20 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Craig:

I'll use your post to bring up something that I noticed a while back and that potentially has to do with why some of us that do own genuine medieval swords did not rush to post their images here: As you know, genuine swords from those ages are quite costly, and just like with jewelery, coin collections, etc. it may not be a great idea to give the world a peek into what one has stashed at their house via the internet. In my case, if you Google my name and go to the "Images" section and sort through the first 2 pages or so of images, you start seeing photos of ancient swords - some of which I own and posted pictures of here, but also many of which I do not own but have either posted or downloaded their images from this forum. Without knowing that, someone can easily deduce that I have a half-million dollar + ancient sword collection - and that's not a good bit of "info" to float around the globe with how easy it is to locate a person these days.

I am not sure how this forum's hits and posts are linked to the Google image logging engine, and there actually were more such images six or so months ago, so they must eventually rotate out after a while - but it does give one pause when considering posting images of valuable artifacts...
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Craig Peters




PostPosted: Sun 14 Aug, 2011 6:06 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Cornelis Tromp wrote:
Hi Craig,

I already have a number of original sword posted on this forum, is there a specific type of sword you are interested in?

best,


You did mention you have one similar to XI.3 from Records. I don't think you've posted it. I'd like to see it.
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Michal Spilka
Industry Professional



Location: Czech republic
Joined: 06 Mar 2011

Posts: 89

PostPosted: Mon 15 Aug, 2011 10:42 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

So I´ll start it then! One little rusty medieval piece from my collection Happy,
Michal



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Michal Spilka
Nielo - Sword
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Luka Borscak




Location: Croatia
Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Likes: 7 pages

Posts: 2,307

PostPosted: Mon 15 Aug, 2011 12:41 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Cornelis, I think it might be good if we could see your antique swords in one place and this is the right thread for that. Wink
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Craig Peters




PostPosted: Wed 12 Nov, 2014 5:46 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

11th/12th Century German Sword























Lot 1080 Fischer Auctions September 2014

Purchased by Craig Peters



Description: Type A Brazil Nut Pommel, Style 1 Cross, Oakeshott Type XI blade, possible traces of inlay on the blade.

Specifications

Grip Length: 11.0 cm
Cross Width: 19.9 cm
Fuller Length: 62.6 cm
Blade Length: 82.0 cm
Blade Width: 5.1 cm
Total Length: 97.1 cm

Point of Balance: ~14 cm from cross
Weight: TBA

The first question most people here are likely to have is "Is it real?" Before publicly posting photographs on the forum, I contacted several members of myArmoury, all of whom have either owned antique swords or have handled them. The consensus is that, as best that these members could tell from the photographs, the sword is authentic.

This sword feels excellent in hand. It's one of the most responsive swords I have ever handled, although this is undoubtedly due in part to the fact that it has lost some mass with age. Regardless, the smith who made it knew how to balance a sword: there is a substantial distal taper from the strong to the point, as is to be expected. Curiously, when thrusting with this sword from a middle guard, the shape and design of the sword feels as though it helps the entire weapon to track cleanly towards its target. I am not sure if this is intentional, or if it is a happy coincidence of the design.

Needless to say, I am extremely happy with this piece.
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Bryan Heff




Location: Philadelphia
Joined: 04 Mar 2012
Likes: 8 pages

Posts: 370

PostPosted: Thu 13 Nov, 2014 3:33 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That's great Craig! Is there any indication that the blade could have been longer in its earlier days?

I love the shape of the pommel.

The church is near but the roads are icy. The tavern is far but I will walk carefully. - Russian Proverb
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Craig Peters




PostPosted: Thu 13 Nov, 2014 5:05 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Bryan Heff wrote:
That's great Craig! Is there any indication that the blade could have been longer in its earlier days?

I love the shape of the pommel.


I see no indication that it was longer in the padt.. It's one of the shorter XI blades. In fact, it would probably be more useful to know what Geibig type it is, since Oakeshott's typology is far too imprecise for 11th anf 12th century swords.
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Luka Borscak




Location: Croatia
Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Likes: 7 pages

Posts: 2,307

PostPosted: Thu 13 Nov, 2014 7:23 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Awesome sword! Would you maybe be willing to give us thickness measurements from a few places down the blade? Are you going to give it a grip so that you can "feel" it better? I am not an expert in Geibig typology, but except it's relatively short, it looks like type 10 to me...
http://www.myArmoury.com/view.html?features/pic_geibig18.jpg
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J.D. Crawford




Location: Toronto
Joined: 25 Dec 2006

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 1,903

PostPosted: Thu 13 Nov, 2014 1:58 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That's very impressive Craig, it must have been a lovely sword in its day. It would be cool to have an exact custom replica made of this and display them side by side, and to know how it felt to freely swing and cut with it.

I must admit: I have mixed feelings about private collection of ancient archeological pieces - they belong to the world IMHO. That's why I have no interest in collecting them personally. It would be great to share this some day, perhaps by loaning it to a museum for analysis and/or display. But that's just me.
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Craig Peters




PostPosted: Thu 13 Nov, 2014 5:43 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Luka Borscak wrote:
Awesome sword! Would you maybe be willing to give us thickness measurements from a few places down the blade? Are you going to give it a grip so that you can "feel" it better? I am not an expert in Geibig typology, but except it's relatively short, it looks like type 10 to me...
http://www.myArmoury.com/view.html?features/pic_geibig18.jpg


Luka,

Part of the purpose of my collection will be to make the specifications of my swords available so that modern smiths can reproduce a sword for collectors or WMA practitioners. The statistics I have posted here are just an overview; I have recorded in much more depth the sword's other measurements. However, I am still awaiting calipers to measure the distal taper, and at the monent I do not have a scale to measure its weight. Fischer Auctions actually listed its weight when it was up for auction, but sadly that information is no longer available on their website and I did not record it.

Regarding gripping the sword, I have no plans to do this. My concern is that the wood could contribute to further degradation of the tang.
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Craig Peters




PostPosted: Thu 13 Nov, 2014 5:56 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

J.D. Crawford wrote:

I must admit: I have mixed feelings about private collection of ancient archeological pieces - they belong to the world IMHO. That's why I have no interest in collecting them personally. It would be great to share this some day, perhaps by loaning it to a museum for analysis and/or display. But that's just me.


Doug,

I actually agree with you on this. Swords belong to the people. But the problem with museums is that swords mostly sit behind thick panes of glass in their display case. People walk by, glance at the sword for a few seconds, and off they go. Or, in some cases, they stare longingly at the sword that is separated from them in its glass prison cell.

I realize why museums do this: they are trying to preserve the sword for as long as humanly possible. But swords are meant to be held, meant to be experienced. That's where the magic is. So part of my long term vision is to establish some sort of institute where people can come and actually view and handle swords, a place for collectors and enthusiasts to be able to actually experience swords. I realize that there are issues of safety that must be considered. Surely, however, if thousands of WMA guys can get together worldwide and handle sharp modern swords along with blunts with safety for the most part, there must be a way where my idea can work.
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J. Nicolaysen




Location: Wyoming
Joined: 03 Feb 2014
Likes: 32 pages

Posts: 795

PostPosted: Thu 13 Nov, 2014 8:04 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Congratulations on the sword and thank you for sharing it with us!

I admire your vision of a new type of sword institute. I think it can be done.
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T. Kew




Location: London, UK
Joined: 21 Apr 2012

Posts: 256

PostPosted: Fri 14 Nov, 2014 1:42 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Craig Peters wrote:
Regarding gripping the sword, I have no plans to do this. My concern is that the wood could contribute to further degradation of the tang.


One option could be an inert plastic or treated wood, but in general that seems highly sensible.
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