Waterloo British 12th Royal Lancers Trooper's Sabre / Sword, Sold

In good condition, a 1796P British 12th Royal Lancers Trooper's Sabre / Sword, 100% authentic, 100% Waterloo provenance.

Warning: there are a lot of fraudulently marked 1796P light cavalry sabres on the market. Sometimes these are authentic 1796P sabres with regimental denominations fraudulently engraved in order to be able to vastly inflate the sales price. These fraudulently marked swords are easy to spot, if you know what to look for (if you have an alleged Waterloo sword marked to a certain regiment, I will happily verify it or not for you for free).

Fact; very few 1796P's had regimental markings; the vast majority were simply marked with a troop and weapon number. Which makes it very difficult to identify swords that saw service during that most famous of battles. This is one of the few sabres with an authentic regimental designation; the sword is marked "12 over RL over B over 55" (weapon 55 of B Troop of the 12th Royal Lancers), while the scabbard is marked "12 over RL over G over 10".

This mismatch of sabre over scabbard shows the sabre stayed in the regiment and maybe due to either this being a fallen weapon (where the trooper fell) or just a stores exercise matching a good sword to a good scabbard.

This is a 100% authentic 12th Royal Lancers (trooper's) sabre and saw service at Waterloo; At the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, the 12th Royal Lancers charged down the slope to support the Union Brigade. You know it is authentic from the markings in two ways; a) they are clearly period / aged, and b) they are "12 RL"; in 1816 the regiment became redesignated as the 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers). So the "12 RL" designation means the sabre and scabbard were in service during Waterloo. 100% provenance. 100% authentic.

The 32 inch blade is stamped "I Gill" (famous maker) to the spine and a crown over 4 inspection mark to the forte. The blade is period sharpened and has a tell-tale period nick to the cutting edge. Blade firm in the hilt. The stirrup hilt in good condition. The leather grip has some loss, but a lot remaining. The scabbard is aged but sound. The wood slat liners have gone so the sword rattles when sheathed. Also the scabbard mouthpiece is missing. The sabre sheathes and draws loosely, but hey... BTW, the mismatched troop and weapon numbers on the sabre and scabbard give you provenance and two bites of the cherry, as both were at Waterloo but with different troopers of the 12th Royal Lancers.

With this sword you can hold it and be 100% sure it was there and used at the Battle of Waterloo; most other period 1796P's you may be pretty sure, but not 100% certain. That fact alone makes this sword worth every penny of £? (too late, now sold, but we will divulge the original sales price for a small fee), if not more. Please quote item reference number AB02 (0077). Further / full sized images upon request.