# Communities > Antique Arms & Armour Community > Chinese, South-East Asia (CSEA) >  Can Anyone Help Me Identify This Sword?

## Jesse Ward

Hello everyone, I recently found a sword and I have no idea how to find out what it is! Can someone please do me a big favor and check out these pictures and let me know what you think? Thanks!

- JW

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## Donny Y

Hi Jesse

I am not an expert of swords but I can help you to read the letters.

One of the side shows : 绍治通宝. 

绍治 is the era name of Emperor Thieu Tri, the third emperor of Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam
通宝 means the circulating and accepted coin for trade in the country.

The actual coin is shown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thi%E1%BB%87u_Tr%E1%BB%8B

Aside than the different shape between the actual coin and sword's guard, I don't think that the coin can be used as sword's guard.

About the letters at the back, I can not get an understanding.　I can only read 辰 王 凝 其 绪 X X X

In my opinion, most likely this is a tourist item.

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## josh stout

It does not resemble any antique I can think of.

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## Timo Nieminen

Vietnamese sabre, "guom", modified. With grips like these, there's usually a knucklebow. Does the pommel show that a knucklebow was once there? (I can't tell from the photos.) The giant coin is a replacement for the original guard (either a guard with a knucklebow, or a flat plate-shaped guard, possibly round or polygonal). I can't see enough detail on the blade to guess whether it's old or modern. Since the coin is likely to be modern, one shouldn't automatically assume that the rest is old.

Search Google Images for "vietnamese sabre guom" and you'll find plenty.

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## josh stout

> Vietnamese sabre, "guom", modified. With grips like these, there's usually a knucklebow. Does the pommel show that a knucklebow was once there? (I can't tell from the photos.) The giant coin is a replacement for the original guard (either a guard with a knucklebow, or a flat plate-shaped guard, possibly round or polygonal). I can't see enough detail on the blade to guess whether it's old or modern. Since the coin is likely to be modern, one shouldn't automatically assume that the rest is old.
> 
> Search Google Images for "vietnamese sabre guom" and you'll find plenty.


I am still thinking about this one, and it still gives me problems.  Good catch on the Vietnamese style pommel, but it all feels a bit off.  The casting details are very vague and low quality.  I tried to see if there were any examples that could match, but genuine antiques have a more crisp look, with identifiable details.  Even some Western swords had pommels that were not far off, but with details like a mane that showed they were Western.

Perhaps a good look at the blade would help determine if it is as old as it looks.  I keep thinking it looks like it was buried for a couple of years rather than hidden in a barn for a hundred.
Josh

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## Ian G

Going through some old threads and I came across this one.

I am confident that this Vietnamese guom is from the 19th C. The cracked hilt is caused by expansion of the wood over time, probably because the wood was a little green when it was attached to the sword. The rest of the sword also appears genuinely old with a good dark patina.

The style of hilt is also older than 20th C and features the typical stylized lion pommel.

Nice older example of a Vietnamese guom.

Ian.

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