Help identifying makers marks on 1897 Wilkinson Sword

Joined
Jan 1, 2018
Messages
3
Hello, I received this sword from my Father for Christmas this year. It was a family heirloom from my grandparents (Norwegian paternal heritage and mixed Norwegian and British maternal heritage). No one really knows much about this sword other than it has been in the family for some time.

I would like any help in identifying the makers marks and any suggestions for cleaning and restoring the sword that will not damage it. I have attached some photos of the Makers Marks and from my internet based research I have determined the following about the sword.

It’s a Wilkinson 1897 pattern, and I have identified the following makers marks:

‘crown 49 W’ by itself on one side of the tang stands for the royal crown and W for Wilkinson. I don’t know what the 49 stands for. I don’t know what the symbol above the crown is or what the hand drawn x represents

The ’01 marking stands for the year it was forged, 1901.

The following makers marks are not understood by me:

’05 (I’m guessing this stands for 1905 but not sure why)

Crown 98 E

Crown B

8

.04

9V’04 with an unidentifiable symbol (be me) below.

On the inside of the hilt there is the inscription:

3 03 GYM 16 (I’m guessing 03 stands for 1903, not sure why. Perhaps the year the hilt was produced???)

On the outside of the hilt near the tang of the sword:

Crown 35 W (35 being unknown meaning to me)

On the hilt there is a crown, which represents Queen Victoria.

Thank you for any/all help!!! :) :) :) :)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1453a.jpg
    IMG_1453a.jpg
    86.6 KB · Views: 31
  • IMG_1457a.jpg
    IMG_1457a.jpg
    178.2 KB · Views: 29
  • IMG_1458a.jpg
    IMG_1458a.jpg
    167.8 KB · Views: 29
  • IMG_1460a.jpg
    IMG_1460a.jpg
    160.5 KB · Views: 29
  • IMG_1461a.jpg
    IMG_1461a.jpg
    165.3 KB · Views: 29
  • IMG_1463a.jpg
    IMG_1463a.jpg
    169.1 KB · Views: 30
  • IMG_1465a.jpg
    IMG_1465a.jpg
    180.9 KB · Views: 29
  • IMG_1468a.jpg
    IMG_1468a.jpg
    129.4 KB · Views: 29
The larger "9", along with the larger "01", indicates the sword was made in September of 1901.

The symbol over the "crown 49 W" is usually called a "broad arrow" and is a British government acceptance mark, meaning the blade passed acceptance tests.

I'm pretty sure that the various combinations of crowns over numbers and letters indicate inspection marks different units (armories, regiments, etc) that the sword was "assigned" to.

edit to add -- the following website can be used to identify some of the marks, e.g., the crown over W is the Wilkinson inspection mark, the crown over B is the Birmingham Royal Small Arms inspection mark, etc...

http://oldmilitarymarkings.com/brit_bayo.html
 
Last edited:
The "X" under the crown-49-W is a proof of blade bending mark. The "X" is on the concave side of the test.
The 2 additional crown-49-W marks would imply that Wilkinson inspected the sword 3 times for some reason. Or someone got hammer happy.

The crown-98-E is an Enfield RSA inspection mark and I assume the '05 means Enfield performed the inspection when reissued in 1905.

Crown-B-8 '04 - Birmingham RSA in when re-issued in 1904.

The Crown-A-5 mark doesn't show up on the referenced site, and I don't know if the '04 next to it goes with it or not.

My guess is that the numbers represent either a specific inspector OR a specific inspection office, since the hilt has a 35 Wilkinson mark and the ricassos have 49 Wilkinson marks.

Your guess on the "3-0-3 GYM 16" mark is as good as any for now.
 
Back
Top