bigjohnshea

George, I agree with Robert on the estimate of the value. I would emphasize though that while it could be restored it is likely not worth the money. Unless this blade passes shinsa as something of significant rarity, then you will not be able to break even on the cost of restoration. There is a shinsa coming up in Chicago in April. The owner might be able to send this to have a window polish for a very reasonable cost of something like 300-400$, and this might bring out some of the features of the less damaged areas, maybe get it into good enough condition to be looked at in shinsa, and have an attribution of school of origin perhaps. Granted shinsa alone would cost around 200-300$ so together you have an investment that likely represents the value of the blade just to get a possible attribution. If the owner is truly interested in selling, I think they should not try and seek out the possibility that this is a gem in the rough, but simply set a price that they are willing to accept to part with it, and put it up for sale. My opinion (which isn't worth much really) is that to sell this fast you could sell it for 400$ on ebay. If you're willing to let it ride and wait for the right buyer you could get more. It's a nice little wak though. Cheers,

That really was a wonderful and thorough article. Wherever it is I hope someone is taking care of it. Cheers,

KM, I outlined an area here where I think the hamon is visible. Not sure where Chris was thinking though. Cheers,

I'm tempted to bid on it now just so I can look closely at what could be considered fire damage. :-) Thank you KM. Very much appreciate you insights. Cheers,

Thank you Brian, Chris and Steven for your insights. Very much appreciate the knowledge. Cheers,

As an aside, is it fair to assume that any blade could be "destroyed" in a fire given the temperatures that swords are forged in? Most fires do not burn hot enough to destroy glass for instance (melting at around 1500 degress F) and as far as I understand Japanese swords are forged at between 1600-2200 degrees F. Again, just hoping to learn. :-) Cheers,

I've never seen a sword that was destroyed by fire. What indicates to you that this blade went through a fire? I don't doubt you are right, just want to learn. The blade does look very rusty but we've all seen worse. The shirasaya does not appear to have any damage to it from a fire though, and it does look like an older shirasaya, to me atleast. Cheers,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291243196755?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT Glad to see this item finally getting some bids on ebay. It was stuck at no bids up until a few days ago. I'm not convinced this is anything special but I'm betting it's a Shin-shinto era blade, Ubu, and would polish very nicely. I think if this was on a merchant's site it would easily sell for 1000$ or so. I'm saving my money for the Chicago shinsa fees right now so I'm not going to be bidding, but I think it's worth a look. Cheers,

It is amazing how good photos can really sell things online. :-) Are there any other reasons you liked this particular blade? It's style? The era it was made in? The smith himself? I always make an effort to research the swords I'm interested in. Usually if it's just another beautiful sword that won't do it for me. If there's a story behind it, or some details of it that are uniquely beautiful to me, then I get hooked. :-) Enjoy your blade. Cheers,

Welcome to the amazing world of Nihonto! I agree this is a solid purchase from a well respected dealer, and not at all a terrible price. It's certainly a damn sight better than my first Nihonto purchases. :-) What made you like this particular blade? Cheers,

Thank you, Darcy. I wasn't sure if they really had any good reason to think the sayagaki was wrong or if they were simply being doubtful due to a rare attribution. After studying the blade a bit more the last few days I'm realizing that it lacks two kantei points that appear to be key to the attribution of O-Sa tantos. These are both as described by Fred Weissberg on Nihonto.com The first is a widening hamon described as transitioning from yakikomi at the hamachi and growing wider as it ascends. The second is a long kaeri extending down the back of the mune. My blade lacks both of these features seen in every example of a Samonji tanto available online, particularly the three seen on sho-shin.com. I am wondering if this may be a Sa Yukihiro tanto given a few points Fred makes on his description of the difference between O-Sa tanto and tanto by Yukihiro. I'd be thrilled if that were the case, but either way I've convinced myself the last few days that the "Sa" mei does not belong, and the attribution is likely wrong if genuine. Your description of the reputation his sayagaki have, Darcy, seems to fit giving these missing features. As for the two samurai mentioned in the document, it appears to be well known that Takeda Harunobu carried a osoraku-zukuri style tanto, which would ofcourse not be this, but that does not mean the document is wrong. As for it having been owned by Yamamoto Kansuke, I haven't found anything talking about what tanto he may have used. Hope you have had a great weekend. Cheers,

Edit: I just emailed him via his website. Thank you for the suggestion. We'll see if I hear back. Cheers,

Thanks everyone for your comments. Sorry it took so long to respond. Had a busy day yesterday. I made an offer of about 2000$ on this tanto a few days ago. http://www.ricecracker.com/inventory/87 ... to_sa.html I approached the purchase of this tanto as though I was simply buying a mumei early Koto era tanto and not a Samonji. I'm assuming that since it hasn't been submitted for shinsa that the current owner and the merchant are even more in doubt about it being a Sa than they let off in the description. The truth is I will be perfectly happy with it for the roughly 2000$ I paid as long as it turns out to be a Kamakura or some early era tanto. I think that's a fair price for a tanto from that period. Also the old document that comes along with it is interesting. It does have a number of features consistant with it being a Sa, such as those written of in the description, and the fact that he tended to make shorter tantos than what was common for the time, with just a hint of sori in the nakago. However, I wanted to try and find a resource that might detail which blades had sayagaki written for them by Honami Choshiki. I guess I was assuming there was some kind of list somewhere out there that detailed the blades he had made attributions for. Love to hear some additional thoughts if anyone would care to share. Thanks for the links and the advice. Cheers,

Hope you are all well. What resources would you all recommend to verify the authenticity of a sayagaki by Honami Choshiki? Appreciate some advice on books and/or online resources to use. Cheers,

I think the tsuba on the one side is stripped of patination and what we see is the genuine clean copper color. I don't know what the silverish material is in between the copper. I picked it for the restoration I was planning because of the copper color, and the the swirling form of the pattern. The Habaki of the sword it was intended for is copper as well, and one of the "menuki" I had acquired for it (actually a fossilized Mako shark's tooth) had a similar copper-like patina to it so they would have worked well together. The swirling pattern of the tsuba looked to me like tumultous waters, or waters disturbed by movement of fish. As a bit of backstory: The sword this was intended for was from Kaga, which is a fishing town, and the theme of these fittings was going to be a legend from the coast of Kaga. The legend is that there is a shark in the waters nearby that is the embodiment of a female diety. The fishermen were afraid of this shark and when they rowed past this region of the coast they would bang on the side of their boat to scare away the shark. Hence the other menuki opposite to the shark's tooth was a fishing boat with an oar hanging off the side of it. The tsuka was to be wrapped in shark's skin as well, which is not at all an unusual wrapping I believe. I would have completed this restoration had it not been for a recent change in my school schedule. Over the course of a few weeks I found myself suddenly needing the money due to this issue, and I already had made a lay-away deal with another seller here on NMB to buy a sword. Because of this change in my school schedule I couldn't complete both these expenses, but I didn't want to default on my obligations for the lay-away deal, so I had to sacrifice this restoration. I might keep the sharks tooth, and maybe find another Kaga sword someday, maybe try to reinvent this restoration in another form, but for now I'm stepping away from trying to restore swords. It's much too slow a process, and I think I'm too impatient for it also. Additionally, unless you are restoring something truly worthwhile (which I believe that sword would be) you stand little chance of breaking even if you have to sell it later. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Cheers, John

Tsuba sold. Many thanks to the board for their comments. Will respond later tonight more.

Tsuba now 100$ Will keep it if I can't get that for it. Cheers,

Menuke sold. Tsuba now $125. Somebody buy it for god's sake. Cheers,

Hello all, Up for sale is an unsigned antique tsuba and menuki. These were purchased as part of a restoration project that I have decided not to pursue. I don't collect fittings, and don't know a lot about them, so I've decided to sell them relatively cheap. The tsuba is a lovely brass design of swirling waters or wind. It is only half restored though and if you decide to use it, it will need to be cleaned up a bit. Price: $150. It was purchased here on NMB for 150Euro. Happy to let it go to for a good price. (Edit: Forgot to add that this is a katana sized tsuba) The menuki is a nice depiction of a boat with a single oar, situated in front of a small swirl of water. It has some gold inlay decorating the canopy of the boat. Price: $30. It was purchased on Ebay from a reliable Japanese merchant who sells primarily antigue sword fittings. It was $40. Preferred payment method is Paypal. I'll be happy to pay shipping within the US. If you are international please contact me for shipping quote at Bigjohnshea@yahoo.com. Please include your shipping destination. Cheers, John

This is getting out of hand fast. I think everyone needs to take a break from the detective work and just get on with their lives. Not going to find any evidence to convict someone with just accusations and theories. :-) Cheers, Other John

Honestly if I had seen it on ebay at 1500$ BIN I would have bought it. I'm not at all convinced this blade is as tired as others are making it out to be. The ha machi (or what's left of it) is diminished but there is still plenty of hamon and I think it could survive a careful polish. I bet we've all seen worse. I just can't afford it unfortunately. I'm a risk taker but I have enough on my plate.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 19&alt=web I've been using this oil for a good while now. Seems fine to me. Just a thought. Cheers,

But it looks like there's a lip around the perimeter of it, as if something displaced the metal outwardly. Also there is another circular blemish in the texture surrounding it. Any reason this couldn't have been a bullet strike?

I don't think I can afford it. Just interested. I've already spent my play money for a good while. :-) Good luck if someone bids. Cheers,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171438796046?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT I'm wondering if it's ubu or not? Looks like koto to me. The photos aren't good enough to see much detail though. Mei looks genuine enough. Anyone have any thoughts? Cheers,