A. G. Hicks, PS

Things just got more confusing, caused in large part by the poor quality of the pictures I've been viewing. First of all the knife is for sale. You can visit at its new home. I found an example, with the hooked pommel, for sale on Evil Bay - at five grand, so I think I'll be passing it up. What's surprising is that it's not put together the way I expected at all. Nor is it put together in the same way as the one on Wes Cowan's site (see earlier post). The lower line drawing of the identical knife is from the eminent Howard Cole who says they were made to fill a government contract. This may explain the why of the screwed-together brass and wood handle. Cheaper to produce in quantity but, from my perspective, angular and uncomfortable. The other difference is that the guand/ferrule combo is cast in one piece. The copy attached to the auction stated that the guard was a later Civil War replacement. The earlier ones being too thin and easily damaged.
So my "authenticity" just took a hit, but I'm not out for slavish reproduction anyway, just something in the spirit of the originals.