u/codeartha

I inherited this sword from my grandfather. I don't know the story behind it, it has always been hung on a wall in his apartment. The place was very, very dry, so the wrap disintegrates, the pin also crumbled when I disassembled it. I kept all the hardware though so a new wrap is possible. But is it worth it? Is it a nice sword or barely a tourist wallhanger?

There is no visible Hamon. The only markings I could find on the tang are those in the picture here. No other markings. No tip weld visible.

I found these bones in my garden, northern France.

There are a couple more ribs where I found it but here are the main ones. I'm thinking rodent. Its on the border of a small river where muskrats and coypus are frequent so I'm steering to that. Although its a lot smaller than an adult coypus skull (of which I have a few) I'm thinking baby. The bone of the face is very thin and is actually dried in a twisted/pretlz non-anatomical position and flexible enough to be almost forced back to a natural position without breaking. I was sadly no able to find big incisors to confirm the rodent.

Could it be a small lamb? I found it in a sheep pasture. There might have been a miscarriage.

(Hose adapter for scale)

This sword is in my family since a long time. It was said to be the cavalry saber from my great grandfather or one more generation up. If it is, if would have to be in the French army as if comes from a family branch where everyone only lived and served France. When I was young I was only allowed to look at it hanging in its sheath on a wall. Never got to see it or hold it.

I inherited it recently and got to take a closer look at it. The arabic looking markings and text on the blade, along with a lack of army serial number and no makers signature (which is France was usually a beautiful engraved signature reading "Manufacture d'Armes de [something]", often on the spine) makes me doubt that story very much. So any information about it would appreciated.

Edit: if there is no chance the story holds, what would be its value? How to best care for it as it is. Should I try to remove some of the oxidation spots or leave them?