Thanks Stu This is what you mean -- right? By the way I did get the sword but with this guy you never know . You might go into his shop one day and the sword is $500 and the very next day it's $1500 when I was in there I was looking at an old bolo that he priced for $100 on Sun. -- On Mon. he swore he told me $250. This sword was $500 but a fake one setting next to it was $1000.
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By the way this sword I have (with the capture tag on scabbard) has a plain copper habaki. Would this mean it is likley to be a wartime blade? I've never had it apart but I imagine its a wartime piece (having a hands off attitude with taking apart German daggers I'm a litle hesitant about taking apart a sword that's been together for 70 years unless there is suspician of an old blade.) I don't have pictures right now of the blade but it looks like the other WW2 manufacture pieces I've had) Here's the link to it and another one with a capture tag if you're interested.
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ghlight=swordsComment
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Buying/owning a Japanese sword without looking at the tang is like buying a coin collection without turning the coins over to look at the dates, because they have been lying face down in a Reiker mount for 70 years, so why turn them over and look now?
I had a sword in the crappiest Army mounts you could imagine. Signed Tadayoshi - sold for $3,500 back in 1995. I think I still have the mounts somewhere, as the buyer didn't want them.Comment
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You confinced me Don
-- kind of like the first time I tried Everclear -- not as tramatic as I thought. This is the tang of the blade with the brown cover. Probably standard wartime but the handle came off easier than I expected so no problem. The other one can't be done however as the peg is covered by the cloth with surrender tag.
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BacksideComment
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Going to flip this one before working on the translation.
Regards,
StuComment
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and this one...Comment
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Thanks Stu, your (and others here) time and expertise is appreciated. I have always found the Japanese forum one of the most open and helpful.
DennisComment
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I agree!! I went to a gun show recently and ask one of the sellers to show me the MEI on a shin gunto sword and he got very upset saying that I knew nothing about jap swords....according to him the MEI was not important...Originally posted by checkit View PostComment
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I must agree somewhat with the seller. With an old blade, I was taught to form an opinion on the blade as to era, shape, school and maker before ever looking at the mei. If something did not match up with the signature, even without a reference, I would immediately question the legitimacy of the signature.Originally posted by Luis22 View Post
When it comes to machine made factory swords, for me, the signature is meaningless as in most cases, it is that of an unknown individual. I have a model 1944 sword with machine made blade that I picked up a few years ago at an estate auction. I have never removed the tsuka as the mekugi is under the ito and whatever was written on the nakago would not have any significance to me.Comment
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So are we agreed that this one is a manufactured blade not an old one?Comment
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Well I'm still of that opinion and I apologize for not having got onto the translation of the mei. Hopefully I'll get to it shortly.
Regards,
StuComment
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No hurry Stu -- You're busy I'm sure and I appreciated your extra info but just do it if you have some spare time -- I meant just in general does this look like a modern blade.
Thanks
DennisComment
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It's a WW2 era blade - likely has an Arsenal Stamp near the Habaki. Characters are crisp, but I just don't recognize the smith. It looks like Yasu *? Kane *?.Comment
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