At the risk of striking a discordant note, I think that "cobbled" is a pretty good term, inasmuch as the sword is pretty rough even compared to inexpensive munition-grade swords of the day (example:
http://steverogersantiques.com/cgi-bin/imcart/display.cgi?item_id=161129a&cat=5&page=1&search=&since=0&status=&title=). It is, however, very believeable as something banged out by the local blacksmith and thrown together for the militia who needed something NOW - One of the first-hand accounts of the Revolution in the South Carolina backcountry mentions that there was a severe lack of swords and butcher knives, so anytime they came across a saw blade or other piece of good steel, they hung onto it and got it reworked into a sword blade. By this means, the author concludes, they soon had a good supply of swords. This piece fits right in with a number of very rough or downright crude originals, and could easily be one of the ones banged out of farm tools to oppose Tarleton and Cornwallis.
The only off-beat note I see is that the blade a nearly blade-width fuller, which is something typical of the 19th century but not the 18th. OTOH, a backcountry blacksmith would not have a specialized tool for cutting in a narrow fuller and if he tried to make one on a big hand-cranked grinding wheel he would likely end up with something much like this one.
