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[mywifesgunakillme]

I have a very short window to purchase. It is nihonto. Please advise name of Smith and estimated value. I believe to be katana length.

Thank you

[Stephen]

it would have to be a very good deal, looks showato from first look.

 

Dont let the excitement of the hunt cloud your judgement. 

 

 Now what is he asking for the two Trump brass emblems? 

[mywifesgunakillme]

He was asking $450 for the blade. Not sure what emblems you are referring to. I can go back and ask. If you are interested, I would pick them up for you if you can pay me back via PayPal.

 

Another dealer has a really nice looking officer sword. Asking $1500. Pics attached. Thank you for your assistance.

[Mark]

i would pass on the forst sword at $450

 

second sword - Kunimori........ fair amount of info available on line,   signature associated with Yasuhiro but many books say these swords were made with western steel and by students. Still there are militaria collectors who are interested

[mywifesgunakillme]

Is his asking price of $1500 in line or far off?

[Ray Singer]

Chris provided this quote earlier on Kunimori's work. Due to mass produced and not being made from tamahagane (these Kunimori are not gendaito) they have been unable to paper at shinsa.

 

"As I have reported here before (actually, quite a long time ago...), the Kunimori blades were not made by Miyaguchi, only signed by him. According to his son, who helped hold the blades while his father cut the signatures, they were made in bulk by a smith in Shizuoka prefecture named Mitsukoshi Hiromasa, using western steel. Apparently they were forge welded, but the exact nature of their construction is not known. They were known to have been made of western steel, this is not in dispute...."

 

As far as whether $1,500 is fair, I do not know what they are presently selling for however you can certainly get a nice gendaito in fairly good polish in the $1,500-2,000 range.

[mywifesgunakillme]

Thank you all for helping a novice collector. I read the post mentioning to stay clear of the showato sword for $450. But what about the second sword...WW2 Japanese Officer sword value? Is his $1500 Asking decent, or should I just pass altogether? Thanks again, and I appreciate the help.

[Ray Singer]

As mentioned above, the question is whether you would want to invest that amount in a non traditional, mass produced sword when there are true Japanese swords (gendaito and earlier) at a similar price level.

 

 

Thank you all for helping a novice collector. I read the post mentioning to stay clear of the showato sword for $450. But what about the second sword...WW2 Japanese Officer sword value? Is his $1500 Asking decent, or should I just pass altogether? Thanks again, and I appreciate the help.

[Stephen]

It was more of a joke...but i do see a likeness...LOL

 

[mywei]

I'd recommend to cool your jets on both, maybe do more research on nihonto/buy some reference books etc to figure out what you really want to collect and look for

[reeder]

Just do a search on Kunimori through eBay, dealer sites, etc... My vote is get it. Unless your in TX, then let me know where it is so I can go get it.

[Jean]

And above all keep a track record on prices and do what you have just done, ask help from Board members.

[Stephen]

even tho not true Nihonto they are very collectable do to the Yasukuni connection. Esp with military collectors. 

 

edit to add

 

one on ebay at your price now five days to go, see where it ends. 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WW2-GENDAITO-KATANA-by-IKKANSAI-KUNIMORI-ca-1940-Japanese-Samurai-sword-/282616459399?hash=item41cd40f087:g:ce4AAOSw0DlZl4zo

[mywifesgunakillme]

Thank you all very much. I value each and everyone's comments. You all are why I love this forum. Honest individuals who are there to help guide those of us just learning about nihonto and other collectible swords. I will do some research on the Smith as was recommended previously. I just didn't have time to sit down and scour the internet. All I had on me was my phone. It really was a very nice WW2 officer sword. Beautiful condition overall, I thought. The only thing missing from what I've seen in other pictures is the hassle part....I know someone will enlighten me with the correct term. I assume all officers had that as part of the rig. Thanks again. Time to start researching.

[PNSSHOGUN]

$1500 is on the higher end, looks like a nice piece with pierced tsuba and decent polish. Prices are always going up, if you can haggle him down a couple hundred you'd be doing well.

 

As for the tassels they were often removed in the field by officers and then also lost over the years as swords changed hands.

[mywifesgunakillme]

Here are several detailed pictures of the Officer Sword. It seems to be in very nice matching condition. I assume the kanji represents numbers on all of the parts. I am used to seeing western style numbers like on NCO swords. If they are numbers please advise. It they represent something else, I'm here to learn. Thank you

[Stephen]

looks like 0 4 3, yes stocking numbers to keep all in order

[PNSSHOGUN]

Did you manage to get the price down a little and buy this?

[mywifesgunakillme]

I purchased the sword, so I can study it and then sell it, or trade it. I figured I really wasn't risking anything as I have had several people contact me about wanting it for their own collection if I didn't pick it up, and there seems to be quite a lot of interest in one on eBay right now. I know enough to be dangerous around swords. They typically aren't what I collect, but I come across a decent amount of swords as I search for antique firearms.

[mywifesgunakillme]

The sword has been passed to another collector.

[sbf]

The sword has been passed to another collector.

At a pretty hefty profit I see. Perhaps a donation to the forum is in order.

 

Steve

[Stephen]

What profit do you see Steve? the ebay link is not Jason's sword.

[sbf]

What profit do you see Steve? the ebay link is not Jason's sword.

 

 

No, but search eBay for "Kunimori sword" in completed listings and you will see it. Mind you I have nothing against profit, but I believe in giving credit where credit is due. This forum just helped Jason make a lot of money, and I hope he appreciates it. 

 

Steve

[Stephen]

Edit to find what you were talking about

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WW2-Kunimori-Japanese-Officer-Sword-Gunto-/332357614560?hash=item4d620ebbe0:g:HoMAAOSw~iRZoNJK

 

3600$ with a line thur it so he took a lower offer, yep pretty good profit from learning what he had by posting on NMB.

[mywifesgunakillme]

I agree that credit is due to NMB. Without It's members providing feedback, It probably would have taken me quite some time to research the signature of the smith. As was mentioned, the asking price was not what I accepted. I just figured I would start high and let the buyers send offers. I wasn't trying to get rich off this sword, so someone got a very good deal. Mine had some issues, like the handle needing to be re-wrapped etc. Anyway, the NMB has been good to me and I don't mind making contributions to this site for the help I received on this sword, and future purchases as well.

 

Thanks all, Jason

[Brian]

No obligation....donations are always voluntary as regulars know...but allow us to continue doing what we do.
That DONATE button is top right if anyone wants to use Paypal, credit card directly, or even Bitcoin. Always greatly appreciated.