Its weight should not be too light, it should feel like a natural extension of the arm. One should not move to a heavy weapon straight away but start with one that is most comfortable and progress to a heavier weapon when one improves and finds the first weapon too light. The finish of the traditional sword is smooth and one should be able to see the grain of the metal through the polish. Modern swords tend to be chromed with a layer of copper or brass underneath the chrome layer. The older swords were hand beaten and sometimes had the name of the maker inscribed or at least the seal of the place of manufacture.
Modern swords tend to be cut from sheet metal and then shaped by machines.
Hand made sword are preferable because of better balance, the better quality of the finish and the more compact grain of the beaten metal. The handle should be properly fixed and not lose, it should also not be too thin and narrow but have a large enough width for proper gripping. Check that the handle does not have cracks due to flaws in the wood or improper finishing or seasoning of the wood. All comments are most welcome. The copyright is retained by the author so please do not publish it.