Alex A

I imagine that its just very small areas of the surface that have failed to patina or eroded patina. For reasons such as wear and handling, rust flaking off and what not.

I'm not very savvy with money Lewis. Though i think i did open an account a few years ago and never used it, possibly a different company. Will look into it, cheers.

Agree prices have remained the same and now is a good time to buy due to the weaker Yen. Ordered a tanto to be made and agreed on a price. A little concerned the Yen rate will have changed by the time its made and i will be hit with a kick in the nuts lol

Thanks Thomas, il pass that on.

This used to take two weeks tops, have a friend that's been waiting 5 weeks. Anyone else noticed? and know the reason?

Surely a sword should have a polish that is satisfactory enough after polish without having to attempt to enhance it oneself..

For me, the risk outweighs any potential reward. Horses for courses as always.

I was thinking what Bazza/Piers mentioned, a wall gun. Never seen one up close but saw a mechanism for one at an arms fair a while ago, it was massive, especially compared to the standard sizes. This one. price was a lot cheaper at the fair. A Flintlock Mechanism for a Wall Gun (garthvincent.com)

I dunno John, guessing very few in the UK. Quite a few stores sold wall hangers back in the 80s. Just thought id take a look, forgot i have a Ninja sword too, thats actually pretty decent made with a 440 Stainless steel blade. Sadly under UK law now then i guess ownership of my first sentimental swords is now a bit dodgy. I know this site is for real Nihonto but as a kid barely into his teens, they made a few xmas days very special Ito actually not too bad lol

Edit, thought someone had added seki gane but now ive got the glasses on.

Also the patina of the nakago looks fake. Mei is on the wrong side for a Tachi. Nut and bolt mekugi peg is a new one, never seen that before. Ps, these always get called fakes but i don't think a lot of them were meant to deceive. Back in the 80s most folks just wanted ornamental wall hangers, these sufficed. In my eyes , many are not good enough to be called fakes. I still have one, kept it for sentimental reasons, blades not even magnetic, must be aluminum or something

Guessing that they were done as a quick and shoddy way to tighten up the fit and stop things rattling around, with regards wrong thickness seppa. Though just a guess.

Its difficult to help with a price because you give us so little info. Never seen a Koto Katana in koshirae, in the state its in for less than £1200 in the UK. Whether that helps or not, dunno.

Original nakago is what i meant, Jean

An idiot question, whilst talking kabuto Is there a way of knowing whether an helmet was made for a Samurai or an Ashigaru ?

Hello, yes, its a shortened Katana. Maybe shortened after damage, a crack maybe. It could well be Koto Obviously, the nakago is missing which would have been a great help. The jigane to me looks like large itame with some nagare, rather than pure masame. Here is a good link that will help you understand a little, even throws some schools in. KANTEI 2 – JIGANE & JIHADA #2 | Markus Sesko

Would say no, not from Japan. What happens is buyers ask for lower shipping quotes so that means less insurance cover. The fault then lies with the buyer who is out of pocket should an item get lost or stolen. My experience is folks really do not like to pay extra for insurance, as what could be a £60 tracked service can easily turn into a £300 plus service. Depends on the item and how valuable it is verses risk. Ps, Our service, when still delivering swords did not insure antiques anyways. A good few years ago when they did insure, that's when things got expensive. Not so far off the price of specialist shippers i mentioned earlier.

We are spoiled in this game as there is still so many items about in good condition, so very lucky. If the helmet above was a ancient Greek Corinthian helmet, in the same condition, imagine the interest from wealthy collectors. The helmet above is in poor condition, but still an untouched piece of history. Its not easy placing your items on forums for discussion, thanks to the OP for doing so. That goes for anyone else too.

85% success rate sucks, to be honest. Good advice. Would only do bank transfer with known and trusted dealers, not many really. Having a tanto made in Japan at the moment. They say if they cant deliver it due to courier issues, they will drop it here themselves, that's service.

Ps, Had bother working out whether a small cannon barrel i had was either bronze or brass. After reading online, will state what others know is obvious. Bronze heads towards red and brass towards yellow appearance, not always easy to tell from images. Bronze has a more copper colour appearance. Also, about the stock, got be really wide to accommodate that flared muzzle. Was thinking cut from a rifle stock but then changed mind

That's a really unusual piece. The barrel appears massive in relation to the bore but seems ok made apart from the screw hole on the barrel tang which is not centered, The rest of it seems quite crude, with regards the lock, stock and trigger mechanism. Not convinced its that old. Its all put together as mentioned but im thinking the stock was put together for that barrel and not from something else. I say that because of the size of the barrel for a pistol. Just look at the height the stock has to be for it to match the tang on the top of the barrel, cant see any other pistol with a need for a stock like that ? Lock appears as though its converted from flintlock but don't look so old. No trigger guard. Elements of it remind me of something put together in India for tourists, maybe that what it is? Oddball, but kind of like it in a way because its an oddball with a big barrel.

Personally, think the days of sending EXPENSIVE antique swords by the usual couriers has come to an end, that's just my opinion. Not wanting to rub salt in wounds, really mean that but if i was to send a real expensive sword, wouldn't be looking to use UPS etc. Only sent one real expensive sword (for me) quite a few years ago via parcelforce and it was one big worry from beginning to end. There's just too much that can go wrong with theft and damage, not forgetting customs. If i were to send one nowadays, would be looking to use specialist shippers. Expensive, but with valuable antiques, that's what i would do. Better paying over the odds with shipping than throwing thousands away. Spoke with a specialist arms shipper last year, he wanted £400 to send a pistol to the US. The pistol (£1700) it was not worth it but for a sword worth £4k upwards than to me its acceptable. I would certainly pay that if i was a receiving customer, just for piece of mind. He did say he would ship swords. Buyer picks up from the nearest airport, clears customs. Quickly looked online for specialist antiques shippers in the US, maybe folks could look into using something along these lines. Antique Shipping | Navis Pack & Ship (gonavis.com) Being honest, in this day and age, to me it don't make sense using the usual couriers, too unreliable and always have been. Maybe one day get pushed into using them anyways, we have in the UK with regards using private couriers instead Times are changing.

Must admit Kirill, that one must have a few of us wondering.

Stupid question maybe, is there no way of sending stuff more securely with a private courier within the US?

Agree with Mark. From what i can gather, polishers tend to be a lot more wary when it comes to sorting out marks, rust or whatever in the bo-hi for the reason mentioned above. Had a sword turn up with the odd old rust mark in the bo-hi (cleaned out marks). It bothered me then but would bother me less now as not so pedantic on such matters. They were left by the polisher. So long as the seller/dealer makes it clear about such matters, which they didn't at the time