I'm currently in Turkey. I came across a saber/shamshir with beautiful Arabic script inlaid in gold into the blade. The seller says it is 17th century Ottoman.

Now, I know not to take the seller's word on faith. I'm educated enough to spot tourist junk and obvious fakes, and I can also identify swords that are questionable enough that I won't take my chances. The problem is that this style of weapon is out of my normal area of expertise, but I am rather enthralled with it. So I have a question that I know I can't get a satisfactory answer for, but I'll ask anyway:

Does anyone know if it is common to see gold inlay in fakes from Turkey? I was not able to get a picture at the time. It was in Istanbul, and I've currently left for the Asian side of Turkey, but will return to Istanbul in a few days. Again, I recognize that I'm not giving you all much to go on in helping decide whether or not to purchase it, but I figured I'd ask.

My default response is not to risk spending money on something that could be fake, but I have to admit that the sword does seem to be real (though possibly 18th century rather than 17th as the seller says).

Does it look like it might be wootz? Copies are usually mechanical damascus/pattern welded or modern monosteel. But maybe the biggest difference between copies and originals is blade geometry and feel. See this replica by Empire costume for example, it's probably a good quality sword and it has gold inlay, but the blade is modern mechanical damascus:
http://en.empirecostume.com/sabre-a-l-orienta...-a7275.htm

I cannot answer your original question but I can give you some advice. If you decide to buy it haggle, it's the way things work there. Maybe you already knew this in which case good luck and hopefully it's a real one.

Right now, there are tons and tons of Syrian-made fakes in the Turkish antique market with often real nice koftgari work. Without a picture it is real hard to say anything but those fakes are usually hade wider blades with no fuller, to make a better canvas for the koftgari. Koftgari is usually is in form of inscription, with big Arabic letters, that begins from crossguard and goes all the way to the tip.

Exactly where did you see this saber? An antique shop in Grand Bazaar?

Thanks all for your feedback. Based on this and some further research here in Turkey, I've decided to stick with my default intention to avoid it. There's way too big of a chance that it is fake. Sancar, yes, it was in the old section of the Grand Bazaar, which is one of the reasons why I defaulted to assuming it was fake to begin with. I was just very enamored with this piece, which is why I asked. As a modern replica, it was quite nice.

I am impressed (and frightened) at just how good people keep becoming at creating fakes. It is even more frightening how in certain countries it is actually cost effective enough to make these fakes and still be profitable.

A wise decision. As a rule, don't buy any antique blades from Grand Bazaar. They are either fake or hugely overpriced, usually both.

Hi, Bill,

Another option to consider: if the sword is of good quality, good balance, and if the inlay is well executed, you may also want to pick it up if it is for a good price! While the seller may be disingenuous, the sword, the modern, may not be . Did you get a chance to handle it and check the build quality? You may be able to pick up a well crafted modern replica at a fraction of the cost.

It really depends on where in the grand bazzar. The areas around it are are normally pretty good but you need to know turkish. Good idea not buying it as a lot of arabs are coming over and buying these at high price because of the popular turkish tv shows.

BTW haggaling is not considered normal outside of the turist areas

Putting aside the question of the sword itself, unless something changed with the law in Turkey, I wouldn't try to take any antique out of that country. It is possible, but for a tourist it is a big headache.