A friend of mine is looking for swords to hang on the walls a fantasy-themed tavern/restaurant, so he'd like recommendations for blunt wall-hanger swords that look more-or-less historically accurate when hung on a wall. Handling characteristics aren't a priority since he's not expecting to take them down for demonstrations or anything like that--he'd just rather buy much better swords and wasters for that kind of thing (and I've given him some recommendations already on this count). Any period within a vaguely "medieval European" bracket of 1000-1500 is fine; in fact, a bit of variety would be appreciated, since he'd like the place to have a lived-in look with a "history" of having fed and housed many famous adventurers in the days of yore. Last but not least, he'd like each sword to be below the $200 mark if possible, since they're not going to be put to any real use anyway, but he's willing to be a bit flexible about this limit because he'd rather stretch his budget than have horrible-looking stuff on the walls (yes, I seem to have infected him with that virus).

I happen to be pretty clueless about the budget sword market, so could anybody steer me in the right direction here?

The Cas Iberia/Hanwei practical line look pretty good as budget swords go, are blunt and cost $80-150 so within budget http://www.casiberia.com/productsearch.asp?su...=Practical you can find 'em cheaper and w/ more variety on eBay or from a vendor like koa. You could also check out the "Iberia line" they are like $150-175 though

you know, Ebay has a lot of Estores, and he could pick out the swords he wants, have them shipped and probably for less than 40 Bucks each. Pawn shops always have some 'stuff' in them as well.

I would go with the old "Toledo" marked blades

when he hangs them on the wall he could have the blades drilled and fixed to the wall so they cant come down, hang a shield in front of it and no one will see the screw.

There are over a dozen Windlass swords in that price range and era. Just check the "Last Chance" section below as these are discontinued models being closed out.

http://www.museumreplicas.com/c-82-swords-kni...?pagenum=1

Plus they will hold their discounted value pretty well. Some discontinued Windlass models are highly sought after and will increase in value should your friend evere decide to sell them.

Mmm. The fullers on the Hanwei Practical swords look rather off, so we're probably going to steer clear of that route, but Windlass's clearance category has a couple of fairly enticing items.

Out of curiosity, where will this restaurant be situated? In Montreal we have the Dragon Rouge, and I had the pleasure of helping the owner in finding his first artifacts. A suggestion for your friend would be to have him approach certain artisans who may, if his location and clientele warrant it, wish to expose some of their handiwork. In many upscale cafés you will have artists placing their paintings with the house for purposes of selling, this has worked in the past for arms & armor.
May he break a leg with his endeavour.
JC

I'd just put up a looking for note in the classifieds here. There are probably more than a few people who would love to move some wall hangers now that their collecting has moved on.

It's in Indonesia. And be patient--it might be a couple of years before the plan entirely materializes. We're still building the hoard that we'll later use to deck the halls and everything.