Need Help ID'ing German Sword (P.D. Luneschloss)

[T. Mart]

Hello,

I am genuinely new to this forum so any assistance I can get is appreciated

I was recently given an old sword that belonged to my great great grandfather or so I was told. Sorry but no pics at this time, I'll try to get some up ASAP.

The sword is 22 1/4 inches from end to end, the guard makes kind of an "S" shape looking like a wave with the marks "F.A.6.5." on it (some sort of soldier's ID I would think) On the other side of the guard is an S with a crown over it, inverted.

The spine of the blade has a W with a crown above it, a 14 below that, and then an S with a crown over it. It also says "P.D. Luneschloss Solingen"

The Scabbard looks very beat up, it's leather with a metal end with a ball on the tip, with the marks "2.9.A.E.1.1." all of various sizes and mismatched.

I know my info isn't the best and I'll get pics up as quickly as possible, but any information about this sword would be appreciated -- the only info I could come across is Luneschloss as the maker and Solingen as the city it's from (or maybe that isn't even right )

Thanks!

[George Wheeler]

It is difficullt to tell what you have from the description. Please post a photo and we can better help you with the identification.

Having said that, it seems you have an Artillery short sword that was made by Luneschloss in Solingen as you surmise. The mismatched markings seem to indicate a Field Artillery unit and a replacement Artillery unit scabbard respectively.

[T. Mart]

Finally got pics....sorry it's been so long, but any help ID'ing this sword would be much appreciated!!

[thomas pludra]

Hello,
I think, the weapon you´ve got there is a
"Faschinenmesser M1852"
The stamp W14 on the spine tells us that this weapon was issued in 1914. At that time (up to WW1) those "Faschinenmesser" were only in use in "Württemberg". This would match to the stamps on the handle: F.A.65 could be "(4. Württembergisches) Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.65" in Ludwigsburg/Württemberg.
It belonged to the 26. Feld-Art.-Brigade, 26.Division of the XIII. Armeekorps.

For the stamps on the scabbard I would try a guess:
Maybe 29.Artillerie Ersatz Bataillon 1.Kompanie Waffe Nr 1 (???? it really is only a guess???)

Interesting piece- Congrats
Cheers
Thomas

[Craig Edge]

this is actually somewhat ridiculous in that when my mother gave me an old sword to "try and find out something about it" I was at a complete loss.
So I google P.D. Luneschloss figuring it looks like a brand name and I end up on this forum at this post with exactly the same sword asking exactly the same question.
Well at least now I know the era I was wondering if somoene could decode the markings on it for me and possibly a ballpark figure of what it's worth?
Also would it better to polish it or leave as is?

[Robert E. Ozias]

T. Mart. Welcome to the Forum. Are the photos you posted all of the same sword? In the 2nd photo the grip is perfectly smooth and in the 4th it seems to be reeded. Perhaps it is my old eyes.

[Craig Edge]

yep definitely the same sword.iphones dont take the best of pictures though ..

[Ron Smith]

It's marked to Infantry Munitions Column 3 26th Reserve Infantry Regiment weapon #66.

[Mark Cain]

Robert, your eyes are fine. These were fluted on the outside (the side facing out from the body when worn) and smooth on the inside.

Here's a thread on the same type of weapon: http://forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?t=100509

[Craig Edge]

Originally Posted by Ron Smith

It's marked to Infantry Munitions Column 3 26th Reserve Infantry Regiment weapon #66.

from the above post it's from 1909 too?

if the weapons numbered is there any way to find out who it was issued to?

[Robert E. Ozias]

Mark. Thanks for the reassurance. I've never seen one of these to handle it, does the grip have a line going vertically on each side and the flutes go to that line and stop so the inner side is smooth?

[Mark Cain]

Robert, the ones I've seen have no concrete stop between the fluted side and the smooth side. The fluting, which is presumably cast into the grip, merely "fades to smooth" (a bit tough to describe) when it gets to the side of the grip. That said, this pattern seems to have been used by a number of German states and perhaps not all are the same in the fine details.

[Craig Edge]

[Mark Cain]

A picture's worth a thousand words. Thanks, Craig.