Russian cavalry sabre

I need the help of someone knowledgeable. I'm OK with commonwealth edged weapons, but I need some input on a potential deal. I have a line on a Russian cavalry sabre. This is not the Shaska, but the more standard sabre with the knuckle bow & quillion. The gentleman with whom I'm in contact told me that he bought it about 40 years ago from a friend who dealt in antiques. I have 2 questions; does anyone know when the chinese started to make the "knock-offs" of this pattern? And question #2: is there any glaring indicator of it being a knock off. Off the bat, let me say that most of the fakes I've seen have the bayonet mountings on the scabbard. This one does not. Any help would be most appreciated.

Now with pics! Here's what I've discovered so far. It's a Russian made standard shashka which was sold to the Persian (now Iranian) military for their cossack patterned cavalry units. The Persians called it a shooshkie. Though crudely forged and very coarsely sharpened, it actually in very good shape in that there's no major rust, dents, dings, or damage. All the arabic numbers match on the sword and the scabbard. That said, does anyone have an idea of the value?
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...party014-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...party013-1.jpg