Thank you, Gus, truly some great information. Hopefully, one of our members with P1853 inspector knowledge, might be able to add additional info. Also, as I nosed through a few off the wall searches, I came across the following web site -
Kate Tattersall Adventures.
Again, thanks, Gus,
BMCS (Al)
Hi Al,
If someone doesn't have the specific answer, I suggest you look up Belgium and Solingen sword and gun marks of the period. I just have a feeling the blade on your sword was made in Liege, as it doesn't seem to be in line with most Solingen marks of which I'm aware.
I wound up buying a P 1853 Cavalry Sword in the early 1980's. At the time I was collecting 18th and 19th century cutlasses, so that buy was a bit of a fluke. I had purchased a couple books on Confederate Swords from an Antique Dealer west of Fredericksburg, VA and two months later I was back in his shop. Now I was not wealthy enough to purchase a real Confederate sword, but I was doing some research on Cutlasses imported by the Confederacy. I was particularly enamored with a British Enfield Cutlass and the one in the book had the MOLE mark on it from Robert Mole.
The Antique Dealer did not have anything I was interested in on that trip, but I thought I might look at the P1853 Cavalry Sword with no scabbard. In those days, no one was making copies of Civil War era swords, so most reenactors tried to find original swords and often something a bit later that was "close enough" in style to be used at reenactments. There was some interest in P1853 Cavalry swords, so I thought I might buy it if the price was right.
The leather grip was in pretty good condition, but I wanted to see the maker's mark and if there were any British Military Unit Markings, as swords so marked were less expensive than swords imported into either the U.S. or C.S. during the War and these were the ones Confederate Cavalry reenactors were looking for. To my surprise and delight, the blade was not marked on either side and the price was not bad at all at $ 175.00. However, I just happened to turn the blade so the light caught the "MOLE" stamped on the back (or top) of the blade. My heart almost stopped as swords by Robert Mole were imported for both the U.S. and C.S., as I had recently learned from the book I purchased in that shop two months before. Now there was no way to prove Confederate use, but at least it was more valuable than a more common British Unit marked P1853.
I normally looked for 18th and 19th century items in that shop, as the Antique Dealer concentrated on Civil War stuff and didn't really follow earlier period items. I was amazed he had missed the MOLE mark and especially since I purchased the book in his shop. Now this dealer was a bit shady and a bit mercenary on Civil War items and normally had very high prices for the tourist trade. So I was NOT going to mention the MOLE mark, as I would have with other military antique dealers I knew. He knew I didn't collect Cavalry Swords and wondered why I was slightly interested in the sword. I informed him I knew a few Cavalry reenactors who might want it. but since it did not have a scabbard, his price was a bit high. (In those days, you could still find a scabbard by looking around for a few months and for a reasonable price.) Anyway, after dickering with him for about an hour, I purchased it for $ 150.00 and could tell he thought he had gotten over on me a bit.
I took the sword with me to the Fall NSSA Nationals and showed it to a good friend/mentor who was one of premier bayonet collectors in the country at that time. He put me on to a couple Cavalry sword collectors he knew. One of them thought the grip was in really good condition and I waited silently for him to spot the MOLE mark. His eyes lit up when he did and said he was looking for a sword like that. I asked him what fair market value was on the sword and he said at least $350.00 and probably more like $ 400.00 or a little more. So I asked if he was interested in the sword for $ 300.00? He only thought about it for a few minutes and said, yes, he was and bought it. A couple days later he came by our booth and showed me a very nice scabbard he had purchased from another dealer, that matched the condition of the sword very well. He told me he was very pleased with the sword, but then asked why I had asked such a low reasonable price? I informed him my mentor the bayonet collector had schooled me on how gentlemen dealt with each other on period arms. He looked at my mentor, who was smiling and said, "Well, he taught you well. I now owe you a favor and that's good for any time in the future."
Gus
