M1753 Infanterisabel

This little saber has “always” been called a grenadier saber and I never understood how on earth there could have been so many grenadiers in the Danish/Norwegian army. After getting one of the true gems of my collection, I suddenly understood how. There never were that many…

This is probably the most common of all Danish/Norwegian edged weapons  from the 18th century. I have about 20, a friend of mine has more that 60 etc. This is not a grenadiers saber, it is an infantry or a soldier’s saber. The grenadiers saber is actually a M1748 and it is not from 1753 at all.

The M1753 was produced from 1753 til 1805 and then the Danes started producing them again in 1838 (these are not covered here). They come in a variety of different versions, with or without “tombøyle” (the ring for the thumb – see the one on the left hand side), some had this ring cut off, some of them just knocked off. The ones with the ring still attached are fairly scarce. With the original blade, they are dated and equipped with the kings single monogram on the blade. Very many miss this monogram and these blades are most probably replacement blades. There is also a cadet version of this saber, with a shorter blade.

The grips also came in different shapes and forms, but here it is very easy to make mistakes. The picture shows two slim grips with fairly tight grooves and one that almost seems pregnant. All the blades are virtually alike. Here the identification difficulties start. The two grips on either side are both Danish grips, but the one in the middle was possibly made in Trondheim, Norway in 1807 or 1808 and is, if so, not a soldier’s saber at all. It would then have been made for the elite, Norwegian jäger troops. While most of the Danish M1753 soldier’s sabers have a rather limited value due to the numbers on the market, this Norwegian one is rather expensive.

There are also some very strange ones of the M1753. The reason for the misunderstanding with the grenadier is probably that there were made some M1753 as replacement weapons for the grenadiers – with the grenadier bomb.

The saber on the picture has a C7 mirror monogram whilst just about all other M1753’s have a single monogram. How can that be and why? This is the one and only I ever have seen with this type of a monogram and I wonder if it could have been for a low grade officer or something? Any suggestions are appreciated.

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