Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. This is an incredible example of a rather hard to find Chilean Officers sword. Apparently, these were carried by officers of their version of the Internal Revenue Service. With Germany being the main influence to Chile, sometime in 1895 a contract was passed with companies Luneschloss and Eickhorn for an export model to arm its police force, or Policia Fiscal, present-time having become the Carabineros. On April 27, 1927, President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo merged the Fiscal Police, the Rural Police, and the existing Corps of Carabineros to form the Carabineros de Chile, one unified, paramilitary and national security institution under the direction of the national government, which had used these already existing swords in their arsenal.
Following the German victory of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, Chile started to look towards Germany to reorganize itself in time but the economical crisis, the Pacific War against Peru and Bolivia and the civil war of 1891 postponed/slowed this. German advisors were thus invited to reorganize the nation's military in the last decade of the century and just a few years after, in early 20th cent, the Chilean army was fully ''prussianized''.
At first appearance it is not difficult to determine which sword this was based upon: it is basically the same sword as the Prussian 1889 sword, with its nickeled steel hilt guard cut out with the national coat of arms (in this case Chile); the grip is ribbed wood with 2 rivets on each side for added solidity. The pipe-backed blade bears the engraved ''Policia fiscal Chile''. There are various other markings, but they are mostly numbers on the basket and hilt, most likely the number of an individual in which it was issued to.
The leather scabbard is in wonderful condition and does appear to be the correct leather version. The throat is reinforced leather and so is the lower drag. The only metal component present on the scabbard is the brass suspension ring, which is also held on by a leather tab. There is no significant damage present just the usual wear and weak points from the more worn areas of the leather, mostly isolated towards the middle.
A lovely sword ready for further research and display.
Approximate Dimensions:
Blade Length: 31 1/8"
Blade Style: Pipe/Quill Back Single Edge
Overall length: 36 3/4“
Basket dimensions: 5" width x 5 1/2” length
Scabbard length: 31 1/2”
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