derrbrad Posted February 18, 2019 Share #1 Posted February 18, 2019 Picked it up at a gun show this last weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reschenk Posted February 18, 2019 Share #2 Posted February 18, 2019 Looks like you got a good one. The LF&C sabers with serial numbers are quite hard to come by. They only numbered the first 4000 or so before they were given permission by the Army to stop numbering them in July 1918. Looks like yours is #3544 which would make it one of the last so numbered, but the first two numbers are hard to read - appear to have been damaged somehow. Is your swordt per chance also in the all-metal Officer's garrison scabbard as opposed to the enlisted canvas covered scabbard? Looks as if it might be. If so, that is another premium feature. The officers' scabbards were all made by Rock Island Arsenal which only produced 2000 of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrbrad Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share #3 Posted February 19, 2019 Yep been on the look out for a serial number one for awhile. Had a cut down one a few years ago but traded it for something, I don't even remember what at this point. It is 3644, looks like it was double punched leaving it kind of blurry. It does have the metal scabbard but looks like all the nickel plating/chrome was removed. There are traces of silver paint on it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reschenk Posted February 19, 2019 Share #4 Posted February 19, 2019 I got my LF&C with serial #2186 off the usual site about 2 years ago. Cost me $328 with no scabbard, and I considered it a bargain. You just don't see these very often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spathologist Posted February 20, 2019 Share #5 Posted February 20, 2019 Nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reschenk Posted March 17, 2019 Share #6 Posted March 17, 2019 I found another example of a serial numbered LF&C saber at the big Baltimore show this afternoon. This one was serial number 1415. It was overall a normal M1913 cavalry, but there was one unusual thing - the canvas on the scabbard was painted black. It didn't look like anything that had been done recently. I occasionally see scabbards which appear to have had the fabric died in a greenish hue vice tan, and I have been told that was done back in the day. Did any units .blacken their scabbards during their period of use, or was this just a later garage project? Varangian, if you are still compiling Springfield serial numbers, I also saw a nice 1914-dated Springfield saber in an officer's garrison scabbard with serial number 10926. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrbrad Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share #7 Posted March 17, 2019 Not for sure when it might of happened but, I too have seen a handful of black ones as well over the years of looking. All of them appeared to have been done some time ago and not recently. If it was a unit thing or a later VFW/honor guard thing, I have no clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spathologist Posted March 19, 2019 Share #8 Posted March 19, 2019 Thanks, reschenk! LF&C #1415 I have recorded as being sold without a scabbard on ebay in August 2016. SA #10926 is new to me. I have recorded 10925 as being in excellent condition and sold on ebay in 2008. I think the greenish-hued canvas is original to the early scabbards. Both tent-peg scabbards I have in my collection have greenish canvas that matches the canvas on my M1911 scabbard, so the next time you see a greenish canvas, check to see if maybe it hasn't had a tent peg ground off. Regulation required a heavily soiled scabbard to be painted a specific OG, so I wouldn't think it would have been painted black on active duty. The closest I've seen to a black was an OG oil paint that had turned very dark on the upper portion of the scabbard but still retained a discernible green on the lower portion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reschenk Posted March 19, 2019 Share #9 Posted March 19, 2019 Just curious - did you record the 2016 sales price? I don't think the dealer who had it at the Baltimore show was the 2016 eBay buyer. He had a asking price of $450 which I thought was reasonable for a fairly scarce variety. Someone must have really got it cheap on eBay to have cleaned it up and added a scabbard and still been able to make a profit if the dealer was selling it at $450. Alternatively, he must have lost money on the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spathologist Posted March 19, 2019 Share #10 Posted March 19, 2019 Unfortunately, I didn't. When I started the project, the goal was looking for patterns in the serial number data, price wasn't even a thought. I guess I could start now, as I don't plan to stop logging new numbers... Ponysoldier also keeps a serial number database, probably larger than mine. You might hit him up to see if he has price information... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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