Copper Hilt Nco

[vajo]

With the kindly help of Steve and Bruce i jumped into a copper hilt nco, that arrived safe today.

What should i say. Thanks mates for your support and consultation.

Some shots:
Blade no. 4177
Saya no. 1530 (dont match but it fits perfect)



With the correct light there is a Hada and a Hamon to see. It is not very present. I never saw this on other NCO i had.

[EdWolf]

Hi Chris, congratulations! A very beautiful sword!

Best regards, Ed

[Bruce Pennington]

Nice one Chris!

 

I'm very proud to own one too. The blades are substantial, and I love how they put a bit more curve to the tsuka, as if there were a really old-styled blade in it!

 

My saya has no number at all! So I assume the original was damaged and replaced. Probably the same for yours. I seriously doubt that a G.I., returning home, would know enough about the copper-handled 95 to search and scour the piles of swords to find the right kind of saya for a blade.

[DanielGJ]

very nice, congratulations. Daniel

[IJASWORDS]

It amazes me how many copper handles NCO's do not have matching numbers, or no numbers at all on the Saya throat. If Bruce's theory is true, how were so many swords taken apart during the war by souvenir hunters and why? Of were the Japanese arsenals/armories issuing non-matching swords after repairs for example? 

I also have a non-matching copper handle sword, who the original soldier (now deceased), picked it up from the battle field and swears that it was that way when taken from a deceased enemy. 

I would hope Shamsey or Stegel may have some information or thoughts on this conundrum. 

[IJASWORDS]

By the way Chris, nice NCO mate. 

[Shamsy]

You're very welcome Chris. Looks like a lovely example of a very popular and increasingly scarce sword.

 

Thoughts on the serial numbers... Well here are two points to remember. Officers could privately purchase a Type 95, and these are the longest serving of the various 95 patterns. I believe both these points probably contribute to some of the differences between the first pattern and later examples. You tend to see a lot more ‘personalised’ coppers, with combat covers added than later ones.

 

I've seen plenty of coppers that are mismatched and a few (also aluminum) that seemingly have the serial numbers removed. I in fact have one such sword where the numbers on the blade are fairly crudely removed and on the saya they're barely there. It happens to be one of the swords with the second, verticle serial number. I believe they match though, as there's enough to see to guess what the originals were.

 

Why remove numbers? To prevent the enemy determining production volumes is one obvious answer. The German army employed similar practices with production stamping on rifles I believe. Pretty sure Japanese bayonets also employ obfuscation techniques. Another option Neil already touched upon. Undamaged sword/scabbard being paired with one another; removing scabbard numbers are easier and neater than messing up a blade. Or maybe in other cases they were left on and recorded as issued but unmatched?

 

There was probably some switching early on too, when ‘someone’, whether a soldier, dealer or collector wanted a nicer scabbard or sword and no regards were given to matching up numbers.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the explanation that swords went in one pile, scabbard in another, with soldiers grabbing one from each pile. For a start, too many match for that to be a common practice. I've also seen pictures of captured and surrendered swords and the are all sheathed. I mean, leaving a pile of sharp blades lying around? What could go wrong? How impractical in every way.

 

Swords don't always come with saya. I've seen 3 copper scabbard for sale in the last year, so it could always be a modern pairing.

 

It's a guess and we'll probably never know for sure with most swords. Neil, you're lucky if you do know, but for the rest of us, just enjoy it for what it is. I've rambled a lot without saying much. I'll leave you with my incoherent thoughts for now.

[vajo]

Thank you all for the nice comments.

My thought is another. The scabboard is a much lower number. Maybe the blade was damaged and was replaced by a repair team?

 

On the other side. when it was changed by soldiers or collectors, there is the possibility that fitting parts of NCO must come together. Someone has a blade, the other has the right Saya.

 

I posted the numbers. Maybe another collector will find this.

[Shamsy]

I do keep a database of copper serial numbers, as does Stegel, so if fates allow you very well may find a matching set one day. Once my computer is fixed I'll take a look. Considering there are about 6,000 swords though, it's a long shot...

[vajo]

Steve, another question. I can recognize clearly hada and maybe a hadori based (hoso-sugha) hamon wich all is seen only under correct light. I didn't notice that on my "last stage" nco. Did you notice that on other nco swords?

[Shamsy]

I've not seen any clear evidence of a hamon before Chris. As far as I recall, 95 blades are quenched in oil, not differentially hardened. Your sword is an exception to that pretty solid rule.

[BANGBANGSAN]

Even with mismatched scabbard ,it's still a complete Copper Handle NCO 95,very nice!

[vajo]

Thanks Trystan