Hi all,
I have an Ebay mystery for you all. This particular one was described as an 'early 1800s' razor, and I took that description with an appropriate grain of salt, but it does look quite old. The blade has clearly been well acquainted with hones over the years, it has a stubby tang, and an old wooden one-piece handle. Actually that brings me to my first question: if the 'scales' are in fact made of one solid piece of material, are they still referred to as 'scales'?

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The writing is sadly obscured and can only be partially read: "Beach" followed by what could either be an "&" or possibly another symbol, and then below "...chwitz". It *could* possibly read "Aschwitz" but I cannot be certain. Only the very top of the "A" can be seen, and it could have been preceded by other letters that are now obscure.
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So... any suggestions? I had planned on taking it apart and restoring it with new scales, but I like the old possibly original wooden ones so much, I may just leave it as-is. But of course it would be nice to know a little bit more about this razor.
Thanks!