I have a sword here which appears to be a foil. I'm not sure the age, although it wasn't made recently. It has a number 5 on the blade, the word "France", and a maker's mark which appears to be the letters PRP, slightly overlapped, surrounded by a sun-ray burst.[/img]

Thanks for any help in identifying the manufacturer,

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Hello there,

I've seen the "PR" or "RP" marking (it seems that the third letter on your blade is a "misprint") many times before. But I'm quite sure that it is not the marking of a forge but of a retailer. Because this marking also appears on blades from well known forges like "Solingen" (which in fact is no forge but a city) and "Souzy".
My personal guess is "Prieur" but this is really just a wild guess... perhaps you send them a mail, the firm still exists. Let me know of any answers.
Can you post more pics of your "foil"?

All the best

William

That looks like a Prieur mark. The number 5 stands for a 35 inch blade length. Hard to say how old it is, but I would guess mid to lat 20th century. I could be wrong on the date though.

Don

There is a page here with plenty of fencing weapon's marks. Unfortunately I don't see something similar... But perhaps it can help as it shows various French blades.

Me again ;)

@ Don: It was really a wild guess... I was just adding one and one... I really don't know if Prieur ever marked weapons in this fashion.

@ Vincent: I know the page, but the blades there are (with 2 exemptions) all of a younger age.

William