Question about a EBay Sword

[Yamamoto]

item number 290189931121 is this fake?

[Banzi64]

looks fine to me it needs the handle re-wrapped

[Yamamoto]

How sure are you??

[Steve Flanagan]

Sword

I dont like the effort the seller went to to take absolutely horrible and useless photos, the notches in the tang near the habaki, spurious numbers on the habaki and the non regulation tsuba although the overall photos of the sword look like they were taken from the space station. If this is the best the seller can do then turn around and run,,,and run fast.

[Yamamoto]

So from what you can tell it doesnt look like a good piece?

[Steve Flanagan]

Japanese sword

Some of the pieces might be good, its simple enough,,,if you want to buy the sword then ASK FOR BETTER PHOTOS,,,if the seller doesnt comply then you have your answer. But personally no I dont like it, handle looks okay,,,scabbard looks okay, blade has the issues Ive already stated. Id pass if he doesnt work with you.

[Stu W]

My 2 cents worth.

Hello,

I cannot tell if that item is authentic or not from those pictures. I suggest that you write the seller asking for significantly better photographs. Possibly even tell him the kinds of shots you want. It may be that he does not know what to display. I think he will supply them if he is a legitimate seller. If not then take Steve's advice and walk away from it.

Regards,
Stu

[Bob Coleman]

Note The Valleys Of The Gunome Temper Line Run Of The Edge Of The Blade. The Nakago Is Also Deeply Notched. I Do Not Know What This Is But It Is Not A WW2 Japanese Officer's Sword. Pure Junk In My Opinion.

[Edokko]

I agree. This even if not a per-se "fake", is not something you want to have as a representative piece. A real low quality piece from the ratty photos. You seem to both be from Dayton, so why don't you contact the seller and go and take a look at it live.

[RodneyO]

I think everyone is on the money!, if the seller doesn’t want to show you better pictures, I would stay away and not bid. There are some great books on Japanese military swords. Here are a few websites that can help you identify good and bad Japanese military swords.
Here are a few of them:

http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm

http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/fak...se_swords.html

http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_002.htm

Hope these would help you finding the answers you are looking for, I always study my books before making any purchases on any military sword.

[Stu W]

Great links

Thanks for those web links. Very helpful for us newbies!

Regards,
Stu

[Edokko]

I

[Ian Lim]

That is a made in CHina fake sword, these days many are sold by US sellers.

I purchased one of these fakes from the US when i first started out 6 months ago, lucky I managed to get my money back.

It has the same mark on the blade and usually come with numbers stamped on the habiki

[Yamamoto]

Really... do you see any online that look simular to that one?

[Bob Coleman]

Really... do you see any online that look simular to that one?

ODD QUESTION. DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS A GENUINE PERIOD SWORD? IF SO, STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND BUY IT.