Looking for info on old Mameluke

[BowHunter]

Hello all. I purchased this sword a few days ago on a whim and had never heard the term "mameluke". I spent many hours researching this and I still have not seen another one with the same type of cross guard, where the ends are curved in opposite directions.

 

There is some etching on the blade, but barely visible only in some spots.

 

I found an old thread on here with a very similar sword from 2011 I believe.

 

Any information on it and possibly a rough value would be very much appreciated. Unfortunately, I do not have the scabbard.

 

There are many small nicks in the edge of the blade, and I have attached a picture of the biggest one. Looks like it may have seen combat.

[Mr.Jerry]

I have reopened this one as we try to determine if it is an original early USMC on vs. one of the original Shamshir swords they were patterned after.

 

From Wikipedia:

Marine Corps history states that a sword of this type was presented to Marine First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon by the Ottoman Empire viceroy, Prince Hamet, on December 8, 1805, during the First Barbary War, in Libya, as a gesture of respect and praise for the Marines' actions at the Battle of Derna (1805). Upon his return to the United States, the state of Virginia presented him with a silver-hilted sword featuring an eaglehead hilt and a curved blade modeled after the original Mameluke sword given to him by Hamet. Its blade is inscribed with his name and a commemoration of the Battle of Tripoli Harbor.

Perhaps due to the Marines' distinguished record during this campaign, including the capture of the Tripolitan city of Derna after a long and dangerous desert march, Marine Corps Commandant Archibald Henderson adopted the Mameluke sword in 1825 for wear by Marine officers. After initial distribution in 1826, Mameluke swords have been worn except for the years 1859-75 (when Marine officers were required to wear the U.S. Model 1850 Army foot officers' sword), and a brief period when swords were suspended during World War II. Since that time, Mameluke swords have been worn by Marine officers in a continuing tradition to the present day

[ron norman]

Hard to tell without holding, but It could be a very early unmarked USMC sword. Like the blade etching.

 

Ron Norman