Antique and Vintage Swords

The words "sword" and "saber" are sometimes used interchangeably, but the blades are different in design and purpose. Swords tend to be straight, and often have sharpened edges on two sides. Sabers, or sabres, are curved weapons whose convex, or outside, edges are meant for slashing—picture a soldier in the Civil War riding into battle on a horse. Beyond these two general categories, swords are described in European countries as rapiers, broadswords, and claymores; in Japan as tachi and katanas; and in China as jian and dao. The best swords were, and still are, made out of hardened steel. One such type of steel is known as Damascus steel, which describes a blade that has been forged from laminated layers of metal that are stacked, folded when heated, or both. Sometimes these blades will have 100 layers, plus an extra-hard layer of a wootz in the center so that the part of the sword that is sharpened to a lethal edge is also tough enough to withstand repeated blows. A trademark characteristic of Damascus steel is the mottling on its surface, the evidence of all those layers that are revealed when the blade is polished. This dendritic structure, as it's called, can resemble leopard spots, wood grain, water, landscapes, and the sorts of moiré patterns one usually finds in silk. Beyond the blades, swords also have guards and metal coverings, sometimes called baskets, that protect a hand gripping a sword's hilt or handle. At the end of the hilt is the pommel, which is usually wider than the hilt to keep the sword from slipping out of a user's hand—pommels can also be used as a weapon when fighting at close range. While some swords collected today actually saw combat, such as the discarded Japanese katanas brought back to the United States by soldiers returning home at the end of World War II, many more were made for ceremonial purposes. These presentation swords are often engraved with the name of the soldier or officer being honored, as well as the date of the ceremony.