picked up a fine, no mm PE degen; it seems very unusual.

rather than the hilt being zinc or alu , it appears to be solid nickel - or maybe even silver (?!). maybe that’s why so very much of the finish remains…

look at the langet - the sole area where the gilt lacquer is missing. looks identical to the nickel blade! I can find zero refs to PE base metal being other than zinc (common) or aluminum (scarce or rare). previously unknown variant??

please comment. thanks heaps!