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how to spot real vs fake


markeo

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are there any tell tale signs that would scream fake about a sword

 

this morning i posted for the first time on this forum a pencil drawing of the etching underneath the handle and was told it was shinkai inoue, and by the looks of it, from 1675

 

after going from excited to somewhat discouraged about the possibility of it being a fake, i was looking for some insight of what to look for

 

here are a few more pictures:

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100_0827.JPG

 

one thing i will say is that in the fourth picture, at the very top of the sheath (terminology?) there appear to be screws holding something in place

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It's not so easy to distinguish between gimei and real. Keep in mind that gimei does not mean that the sword is a modern fake, but a true Nihonto - just not by the smith pretending to be.

Best way to find out would probably be to compare known mei by this smith with your piece.

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It's not so easy to distinguish between gimei and real. Keep in mind that gimei does not mean that the sword is a modern fake, but a true Nihonto - just not by the smith pretending to be.

Best way to find out would probably be to compare known mei by this smith with your piece.

 

 

modern meaning what? i know it was in Japan in 1944-45

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mark,

Just to clarify..

False signatures (gimei) have been done for hundreds of years. A gimei signature doesn't mean a sword is fake, or even bad quality. There are some very good swords with false signatures.

In your case, the signature does look a bit crude, and might be a gimei. However it looks to have some age on it. Could be an earlier family sword taken to war, or a wartime manufactured one.

What is certain is that it is genuine, and served in the war. The question is...pre-war or not?

One hole in the tang indicates it is possibly wartime manufacture, but not sure if the other features point to this.

Those screws hold that collar in place on the scabbard. The mounts are all typical WW2 Shin-Gunto fittings.

 

Brian

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