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Grade 1 Manchukuoan Sword


scarson8

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I have a sword that I inherited from my late father. He inherited it from his father who was an American soldier in world war II. That's basically all I know about the sword. I was wondering if I could find some information about it from you guys history/value if possible.

 

Thanks in advance!

Steve

 

I hope I'm not breaking any rules but here's a link to the album:

 

https://m.imgur.com/a/rojC0xj

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Dear Steve.

 

You obviously have the basics already, it is a sword from Manchukuo which the Japanese created as a state after invading in 1932.  Fuller and Gregory (1996) suggest that this one is an NCO's sword from the Guard Police of that time.  The examples they have encountered are made in Japan with a machine made blade.  They describe it as, "very rare".  I can't help you with value but clearly it would be of interest to a collector of military swords.

 

Hope this is of some help.

 

All the best.

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Dear Steve.

 

You obviously have the basics already, it is a sword from Manchukuo which the Japanese created as a state after invading in 1932. Fuller and Gregory (1996) suggest that this one is an NCO's sword from the Guard Police of that time. The examples they have encountered are made in Japan with a machine made blade. They describe it as, "very rare". I can't help you with value but clearly it would be of interest to a collector of military swords.

 

Hope this is of some help.

 

All the best.

Thank you for your reply. Do you think this is something I should have appraised?

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Steve,

 

These normally sell in the $250-400 USD range. Yours being on the rare side could be at the higher end, or a tad more, so I don't see that an appraisal would be worth the money. Some of these can have family blades in them, and IF the blade is by a famous smith, then the ante goes up. But you'd have to dissasemble it to find that out, assuming the look of the blade makes you think it's a crafted blade as opposed to a factory blade.

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Dear  Steve.

 

Personally I don't think there is anything to be gained by an appraisal.  The blade is not in sufficiently good condition to make this possible and even if it is traditionally made the cost of polish and papers, what the sword world considers valid as an appraisal, would be considerable.  It is an interesting and unusual piece of family history.  If your intention is to look after it then some light oil on the blade, avoid touching it with your hands and check it once in a a while.  If you need an insurance valuation then take what Bruce has said to an appraiser, they will probably have no idea as this is a rather specialised field.  If you want to sell then offer it in the For Sale section and see what happens. 

 

If I had a sword that came from my Grandfather I think I would want to keep it in the family but I have two sons in the military and would be confident that they would want it after I am gone.  I know that not every body would think this way and it might be much better for the sword to go to a collector who would cherish it than to be neglected.

 

Your sword, your call.

 

All the best.

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Dear Steve.

 

Personally I don't think there is anything to be gained by an appraisal. The blade is not in sufficiently good condition to make this possible and even if it is traditionally made the cost of polish and papers, what the sword world considers valid as an appraisal, would be considerable. It is an interesting and unusual piece of family history. If your intention is to look after it then some light oil on the blade, avoid touching it with your hands and check it once in a a while. If you need an insurance valuation then take what Bruce has said to an appraiser, they will probably have no idea as this is a rather specialised field. If you want to sell then offer it in the For Sale section and see what happens.

 

If I had a sword that came from my Grandfather I think I would want to keep it in the family but I have two sons in the military and would be confident that they would want it after I am gone. I know that not every body would think this way and it might be much better for the sword to go to a collector who would cherish it than to be neglected.

 

Your sword, your call.

 

All the best.

Thank you for your detailed response. This.was exactly what I was looking for.

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