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Shinano Kami Minamoto Nobuyoshi Signature


eugen_onegin

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Hi everyone,

 

First post here.  Like many others, I'm traveling back to Japan in the next couple weeks and plan to stop by a sword dealer.  I have been a small time collector of knives and blades from most places I have traveled.  It's almost a ritual that I have to have some steel to return home with.  A nihonto would be the pinnacle of the collection for sure. 

 

One blade caught my eye and the dealer does not believe the blade would achieve NBTHK Hozon.  The signature looks crisp and similar to others I have seen but would like the community to weigh-in.  The dealer says the blade is 2nd generation but cannot fully authenticate the signature as there are minor discrepancies with that signature. 

 

 

post-4392-0-15071700-1517504545_thumb.jpg

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If a dealer outright says he doesn't think it will pass shinsa, then he must be pretty sure it is gimei. I would go with that opinion i I were you.
That said, signatures are not the most important thing on entry/mid level Nihonto unless you are collecting for some other reason besides appreciation. Therefore buy the sword, not the signature.
If you like it, and it has no major flaws or damage, and the price is ok..no reason not to buy it.
But also bear in mind you can't export it without going through the whole process which takes time...so it is not a quick fix and would need a few days/weeks to export.
Unless you live in Japan, in which case why only buying now? :glee:

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Here is a tokubetsu hozon papered Nobuyoshi (2nd gen.) katana. 

https://www.seiyudo.com/ka-081311.htm

This is just grabbed off the internet. I haven't examined the signatures - but to tell the truth I don't think I need to. If the dealer in Japan says the sword he's selling probably won't get papered, there can be little doubt that the sword is gimei. "It looks OK to me", or "I have seen other swords with more unusual signatures, yet they have been papered" is another way of saying "I know more than the guy selling this sword". Or, you are secretly hoping that the guy who sells swords for a living, and who sees thousands of swords in his lifetime, has somehow overlooked this diamond in the rough.

 

Neither of these scenarios is out of the question. And its human nature to love the prospect of uncovering a treasure. But the world is awash in gimei wakizashi, and when you can buy a papered TH Nobuyoshi katana for 240,000 yen, you don't really need to fret over the unpapered wakizashi. Buy the unpapered one if you really, really like it, but the chances the dealer has overlooked a diamond in the rough is pretty slim.  

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Here is a tokubetsu hozon papered Nobuyoshi (2nd gen.) katana. 

https://www.seiyudo.com/ka-081311.htm

This is just grabbed off the internet. I haven't examined the signatures - but to tell the truth I don't think I need to. If the dealer in Japan says the sword he's selling probably won't get papered, there can be little doubt that the sword is gimei. "It looks OK to me", or "I have seen other swords with more unusual signatures, yet they have been papered" is another way of saying "I know more than the guy selling this sword". Or, you are secretly hoping that the guy who sells swords for a living, and who sees thousands of swords in his lifetime, has somehow overlooked this diamond in the rough.

 

Neither of these scenarios is out of the question. And its human nature to love the prospect of uncovering a treasure. But the world is awash in gimei wakizashi, and when you can buy a papered TH Nobuyoshi katana for 240,000 yen, you don't really need to fret over the unpapered wakizashi. Buy the unpapered one if you really, really like it, but the chances the dealer has overlooked a diamond in the rough is pretty slim.  

Point taken, Steve.  I would prefer my first Nihonto purchase to not be gimei and should take a dealer words telling me a blade is not as valuable as it should be.

Thanks all.

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