Alex A

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

Aye, looks like a weld issue. (Ware) Your pictures are bad but can just make out a faint similar issues on the blade. Japanese SWORD FLAWS (japaneseswordindex.com)

To me, its just tired with a few issues, due to the number of times steel has been taken off with polish. Look at the hamachi. PS, pictures always make issues look worse, especially when they look like they been taken with a telescope. Off top of head Colin, shinshinto not what im thinking. The bo-hi runs full length of nakago and you dont see that too often. Guessing earlier like early Muromachi. That explains the wear. Doubt someone would go to the expense of full length bo-hi to hide a flaw. Just speculating.

The flaws are not bad at all. With regards the one in the bo-hi, its nothing. CANT EXPECT ALL ANTIQUE SWORDS TO BE PERFECT Doubt the bo-hi was added to hide a flaw Cant polish everything away and take steel of antique blades just because we don't like the odd little mark etc. Horses for courses though. Main thing is that sellers disclose issues

Your good at metal work Russ, you could make a a tsuba sculpture Becoming quite popular here, nearly bought a rabbit sculpture a while ago as it was a lot cheaper than one like this. From memory, think they go for around £4k, money in old horse shoes, i mean tsuba.

Yes Piers, its my lucky tsuba

Dont understand Dale, looks like a perfect horse shoe tsuba, possibly Late Edo, maybe earlier. Heres mine, Kanbun era, displays perfectly Good iron.

He cuts his own horimono, cant remember whether he did or he didn't. Good vid, like the hada. Ps, was watching a vid the other day by another smith. One of the dudes with the hammers was not Japanese, not a clue who he is.

Wow, 3 weeks, Not like parcelforce then, don't think they ever delivered anything without sending the bill first, often miscalculated bills. Thinking the way things are done in Japan with regards UPS may be done differently compared to something coming from other places such as US. Something to bear in mind.

What bill Russ?, maybe you missed it