Well I am shocked
I don't collect or normally buy this type of thing but it came out of a house clearance ,with a lot of German bits all good, and looked fine to me
Arsenal stamps look correct (to me) numbers on scabbard throat match the blade
Screw through the tsuka is the correct type and it doesn't look as if it's been apart so I don't think the tsuba has been swapped
So what should I have seen?
thats brass brazed into the scabbard throat do the fake have this?
and there are traces of brown paint on the tsuka which appears to have been cleaned with emery
I am sure Stu, others more versed can add to what to look for better than me, but that bare aluminum tsuka (without further investigation) would automatically turn off a lot of people. Playing devil's advocate, and assuming it is merely over cleaned and all paint stripped from the tsuka, it should be a really cheap sword to buy. It seems that condition is everything when it comes to NCOs and this is light years from perfect.
Also, should there be some kind of arsenal stamp near the number on the blade, or is that with only a portion of NCO's?
The tsuka had been cleaned with an abrasive you can see the original brown paint in the crevasses
I cannot find a fake with the brass throat insert could the scabbard be genuine??
If it was a "proper", to be snobbish ,Japanese sword I would have no problems
Comment