p-joseph

On a sword that I recently acquired, I was wondering who the tsuba was made by. The sword was atrributed to Noro Masanori, but the iron handguard appears older. It is a flat iron, about 8-10mm thick. It has a cutout for the small knife, and a wild grass or reeds scribing on it. Please help me to determine the maker, and age, and value if any. Thanks in advance, I have tried unsuccessfully for a while. (Edit Brian - resized pics down to 800x600 and converted to jpeg from gif to bring down filesize)

Thanks to those who helped! Knowing that ??????????? SEKI NORO MASANORI SAKU made the blade, do you think the blade is machine is machine made, handmade(traditional) quality? Is it worth anything?

Hi, its amazing that the reading of the markings is so different from the formal text listed in the characters listed. I guess that is why I had difficulty trying to translate the writing. Thanks

Hi again, that pic shows the last four characters, the original picture shows the first two of six characters. Thanks again

How old could it be?

I have had this sword for a short while, tried without success to read the inscription on the tang. It is a katana. If you can help, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!