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Hi As Grey says, its brand new , give this one a miss. ray

Hi Grey is the dark line you mention in pic 2 ,not the shadow from the damged leather strap with the missing press stud ? this sword looks like a semi civilian mounted gunto, with green ito which is not that common IMHO , as Stepen says it's worth a gamble for 600 dollars . best of luck ray

Hi Tony Not to go off topic too much, can I just say when Les Stewart and i came down to london for the shinsa, we were chatting about the Shinsa / polishing / etc. you vanished for a few moments when you returned you produced the sword you mentioned above, can i just say, THE HORIMONO IS ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. All the best ray

Hi Mr Nolan Yes swords in the UK can seem to be somewhat more expensive than abroad !! Depending on what you have in mind and price there are lots of Uk dealers. There are also lots of Arms and Militaria fairs and auctions etc all around the UK. Depending where you are in the UK someone will point you in the right direction . ps. check some of the links on the message board there are some UK collectors and dealers sites and the for sale section also. good luck ray

Hi Rolland Do not wish to be impolite, but why don't you ask "Roy "IF HE HAS ANY MORE INFO ON THE SWORD. regards ray

Hi , Tom / Brian Just to clear up my poor wording of my reply , i agree nothing works as good as bamboo or wooden Mekugi / you can't argue with 1000 years of proof. the point i was trying to make badly was that i have come across metal mekugi in rivet form on two or three gunto moutned swords some of which were riveted at the fuchi and the kashira and they were not the 1944 late pattern gunto mounts and this of course may have of been a personal choice for the owner ? . they were all on what i would call semi civillian mounted shin gunto mounted swords and now that i recall they all had a dark green ito ! so Peter, we are still all waiting on the pics to clear up the mystery MEKUGI problem. regards ray

Hi peter The point i was making is that most of that type of mekugi i have seen were metal rivets, I TAKE IT THIS IS NOT A RIVET IE. DOMED OVER SO IT CANT BE REMOVED , there are as stated in the other replies many types mekugi or for the want of a better word secret fixings that are threaded and push fit pegs etc. a couple of pics of the sword and tsuka will help. and as far as the age of the blade, you need some pics also of the blade and the tang if you can remove it. regards ray

Hi Peter I have come across few copper type Mekugi and other soft metals, always in my experiance they have been on Shin Gunto mounted swords and are more like rivets. I would presume more secure if called to use the sword in battle !!. just my twopence worth regards ray

Stephen / Henry I have know pics of Mick's work to hand , but i have seen a few wraps he has done over the years and one recentley he done for a friend of mine his work is first class, i hope someone will post details of his work soon from the UK ! regards ary

Hi Henry Mick Hicks is the guy you are looking for in the UK sorry do not have his contact details to hand ,i'm sure someone will post a PM with his number or details soon. regards ray

Hi Ian Is the Daisho in liverpool Museum the one with the silver mounts covered in monkeys ? and do you know if it is back on display regards ray

mike sorry can't be diplomatic about this ONE. what a load of Chinese CRAP. as previous comments you were surely joking i hope ray

Hi chopstick first thing you will be asked to do by the Mods, is to sign your posts with your name or part of, it's the rules . And sorry to say this but what you have is a Chinese fake ,see the links on the main page re fake swords and what to look for /sorry 100% fake regards ray

Piers it looks like the tsuba has a cross at the top and bottom of the sepa dai and the hitsu ana look like the profile of a priests hat ray

Hi Steve sorry if this posts twice, had a bit of a glich posting. Nagamaki raises a good point about the identical twins there, they should always be checked to see if they are repro or a casting of a possible real menuki i.e one real / and one new copy. I know a few people that used to pick these up because they were general cheap and usefull as spares. If your friend likes them what the hell, He can always change them sometime later. What i also wanted to say was it was not unusual to see sets like these around the UK at Antique fairs etc. There was an Antique dealer not a sword dealer " i stress " who used to make pairs of menuki and also make matching pairs as above , He used to think nothing of aquiring a sword and stripping it down and casting any parts he could and butcher the whole sword and sell them all as single parts. i'm pleased to say i have not seen him aroud for a few years now. just my two pence worth ray

Hi Guido No wonder they say the pen is mightier than the sword. cheers ray

peter very nice looking Fuchi . But is it just me showing my age here ! Wonder if the kashira had "stingray and Troy Tempest " on it , Oops ray

Joseph yep it is nackered "ouch" , got to agree with John on this one ,would not spend anymore on this blade . look on the bright side ,you could almost use it as a saw ? sorry ray

Hi Kyle If you check the links above ,and look at the " collectors loot Web page" sometime back there was a selection of sword stands up for sale. you will see Roy lives in Cornwall , not that far away from you ! cheers Ray

mark sorry IMHO, do yourself a big favor and pass on this one, It may be the pic's ? do not show the blade in a good light but there is enough there if you look too see itis not a good buy ????? just my two cents worth ray

Hi This may help ? try the Florida Token Sword society for help . I think he used to stay in Tampa Florida ?? regards ray

HI Bond fan i think you have solved your own mystery, you say the chap who had two swords ? Well someone has mixed the sayas up . As previously mentioned, it's a semi civillian mounted sword from the Showa period, check if you can, in some off the Fuller and Gregory Showa books you will see these mounts are illustrated. Regards ray

Ford I don't no much about Tsuba manufacture ,but can you cast your mind back to one off the Token meetings in London when Kenji Mishina San came over with sword smiths/ tsuka maki/ habaki makers etc. I had a conversation at the exhibition table of one of the tsuba makers, he lifted up a tsuba and positioned it in front of a small portable lamp which then highlighted dozens and dozens of microscopic Ito Sukashi details.i asked politley how hell did you do that ! he produced what i can only discribe as microscopic wires like strands of human hair and said he had used these wires like using a fret saw technique once it had been holed ! I then asked the question how long did it take you to complete the work, he said 2/3 hours every night after work and 5/6 hours on sat/sun over a six month period Yes i was frightend to ask the cost of this "tsuba" before any one asks . best regards ray

Moriyama san thanks very much for your translation of the Tanto nakago" fantastic as usual " General points 1. tried some web searhes on / shin-shinto - Hirotsuna / no info on the web 2. Interesting section re -Katamono-Dameshi- Kore. ie: this was used for a hard cutting test 3. just to shed some light on the blade shape it is in the style of Kogarsu maru is this unusual or rare for a Tanto sugata. 4. so could the cutting test be as normal using the Ha or did they ever test a blade by using a thrusting technique, like i presume they used on a Yari ? due to the sugata of the blade. best regards ray

Hi all need some help with this tanto translation , posting for a friend ,so i have limited info at this time. i think it is shin shinto ansei 1854/56 ? one luck day in august signed / Hiro Tsuna ! and a possible reference to the tamahagane used . regards ray