Tantos

[Brettnz]

Hi new to here, Long time collector of knives, Italian, Germany, but want to start getting some tantos to add to collection but not sure where to start hoping for info, not sure on what ok'd ones are worth, looking around ww2 to start either complete knives or even just blades, any condition, any help or advice greatly appreciated, or if you have some tantos you want to sell, being new to collecting these starting out do have huge budgets to get started,

 

Brett

[paulb]

Hi Brett

welcome to the board. Tanto are a huge subject and the range of quality and styles is as broad as for Daito or other arms. As always your choice will be based on what you like and your budget. Some of the very best makers of swords of all time specialised in Tanto and their works are greatly sought after and hugely expensive. The problem is that the populairty and manufacture of tanto went largely out of fashion by the end of the 15th century (maybe even before) so they are less common. Smiths in the 19th century began to make them again trying to copy the earlier works. Blades produced in WWII tend to lack the quality and characteristics that make traditionally made blades such  beautiful works.

As a guide and starter I suggest you take a look at some of the sites in the links section here. Many of these dealers have tanto of different ages and price ranges. It will at least give you an indication of the going rates and the relative prices.

Once you have established some idea of where you want to go I am sure there are many here who would be happy to help

Regards

Paul