Help with sword...

[Copperhead]

A friend asked me to try and get some info about this sword....brought back after WWII from Germany...sorry about the crappy pics, was under the influence of some heavy duty perscription medication when I took 'em...can get better ones if it looks like anything special...thanks for looking..

 

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[dg39]

Looks like a fraternal order dress sword. Knights of Columbus, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, etc.
except a German order.
DG

 

[jscorpio]

heres a similar one

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Knights...208QQihZ002QQcategoryZ403QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Harry_Morant]

Agree with above. The Pythians were the first Fraternal Organization chartered by the United States Congress at the urging of President Lincoln in 1864. What this suggests is that it is an American and not a German sword. http://www.neaca.com/FraternalSwordsandCollectables.htm

Obviously there are a number of ways it could have ended up in Germany such as when many Germans living overseas returned to Germany before the outbreak of WWII, it could have been captured during WWI (not likely as its not a combat weapon) and then liberated in WWII or your friends history of the sword could be a little fuddled. Either way its a very nice sword and I'm sure it has an interesting history.

Apparently hundreds of thousands of this particular sword were made in the 1880s to 1920s as such their value only ranges between $50 - $200. http://www.ruble-enterprises.com/what_do_I_have.htm

What I have found is that apparently the blades were made in Germany and then shipped to the US for etching and fitting. http://www.jons-swords.com/swords.htm

Other links:
http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/marin_knights_pythias.htm
http://arms2armor.com/Swords/pythias1.htm

 

[Copperhead]

Thank you all for your help....my friend did mention that the person that gave it to him spun quite a tale about it, and when he told them he was going to do some research about it, the person memory about it's history got a little "fuzzy"....I'm sure he'll appreciate the info....