Here’s my pristine Arms & Armor Town Guard sword. Current price at A&A is $943, shipped (i don't know if there are any in stock at A&A). I’ll sell for $800 shipped in CONUS.
This is a rare example of the complex-hilt field swords of the late 16th/early 17th c. This particular form is typical of a group created by Wolfgang Stantler for the Munich town guard. Surviving examples of that group can be found in a number of museums, including the Wallace Collection (A612).
Oakeshott famously observed that the most reliable way to settle the question of whether a given weapon is a rapier or sword is to hold it and estimate whether it could sever a man's arm. By that reckoning the Town Gaurd certainly is a sword.
In essence, this weapon is a medieval single-hand arming sword with the addition of protective bars to take the place of the plate gauntlet. Although often grouped together with what we commonly think of as rapiers, such swords tend to be shorter and broader than the "bird spits" Silver railed against. Their blades post-date Oakeshott's medieval blade typology but typically correspond to Oakeshott Type XV and XVIII blades, balancing cutting and thrusting abilities by starting broad at the guard and tapering dramatically to an acute point.
True to the type it represents, the Town Guard sword is strongly and cleanly built, beautiful in line and detail but not fussy. Its robust forte, ricasso and tang (.25" thick), strong profile and distal taper, complex hilt and wire-bound grip combine to create a lively weapon that also is heavy enough to excel in use against armoured opponents on a crowded battlefield.
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