Adrian

They also have many other interesting Japanese items like this Norimono:

Just spent 8 days in Venice with my family and among many other things we visited the Ca' Pesaro. The Oriental Museum part is located at the top floor (lower ones being the International Gallery of Modern Art) and has some nice pieces. Not very relevant when it comes to nihonto as only 20-30 blades can actually be seen (many others are being kept inside their scabbards). Lots of tsubas and fittings as well. However they have a quite impressive o-dachi blade hidden behind a bunch of arrows. Couldn't get a good pic of the whole blade as the display was an old, weird 3 windows cabinet placed near a window. I knew the collection since 25 years ago when I spent a month in Venice as a student but I had no memory of this piece, probably it was in storage/restoration at the time.

IMO this should be the mandatory starting point for everyone who can attend (without spending triple digit figures just for being at one show). Don't be lazy, the books and the Internet can only take you that far. Things are tougher for those of us who would have to spend the cost of an entry level sword just to attend one of the big shows in the US...

The golden rule which says "they just don't make these anymore" applies to all antiques. This means the supply is inevitably limited and a relevant increase in demand will automatically trigger a price increase. However, this doesn't mean that all antiques will become more and more expensive if the global population continues to grow. (even in absence of wars/important disasters/important economic crisis and so on) . The trend is moving very fast towards owning high-tech gadgets which subsequently become obsolete with insane speed. The spending power of larger and larger parts of the population is used for purchasing stuff which drops to almost zero value within 2-3-4 years. Large companies know they cannot make zillions by pushing the trend towards antiques (a limited resource) so they use all the means available (and these days they have access to a whole new array of methods) to push the general trend towards purchasing every year the last i-crap, the largest LED TV and so on. If the current trend continues, I believe that in 50 years the percentage of the global population interested in antiques will dramatically decrease. Sure enough, not all antiques will be equally hit, but as a general trend I don't see tomorrow's world driving towards collecting ancient stuff.

This was announced in September 2014 http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/09/30/ebay-and-paypal-to-split-carl-icahn-and-elon-musk-wish-comes-true/ http://www.cnbc.com/id/102037051 Relevant to us would be if ebay will choose to incorporate a few other e-payment options. ( Apple's?)

I would never trust a 3rd party with my ebay login details. But that's just me.

Maybe they changed it, I haven't sold something on ebay for a few years. Even if it works now as you described it, an underhanded seller can still use a dummy account with zero feedback to slowly raise the bid until he figures out the maximum. The he cancels the bids of the zero feedback account(s) and uses a "respectable" secondary account to bid just under the maximum bid of the unsuspecting buyer. What gives away the dishonest sellers using these methods is the bid history , bid cancellation and the history of the accounts in relation to each others. Due to more and more sellers using these tactics I never do anything but last second sniping on ebay and if I cannot be online at the time when the auction ends I simply either let the item go or make a very conservative bid and hope for the best.

Unfortunately that's not the case, as ebay allows sellers to see the maximum bid made by a buyer, regardless on the current bidding level. So if you place a 3100$ maximum bid on an item that's currently sitting at 500$, the underhanded sellers would simply use another account to place a $3000 bid and raise you close to your maximum bid. If this doesn't happen they simply close the auction early.

Let's not forget that any item is worth exactly what the buyer and the seller agree upon at the moment of the sale. Could someone buy a sword like the one in the OP for 1700-1800$ on the last day of a sword show, if the seller needed the money to fund the purchase of a much better piece which was about to fly 2000 miles away within a few hours? Most likely so. But that doesn't mean this is the "market value" of that sword. As a matter of fact, from my experience, in the antique business the "market value" of any given item is a very loose figure. This being said, 3100$ was probably on the expensive side for the given item (which tends to happen a lot on ebay for low range nihonto sold by dealers) , but let's not make it like the buyer got "fried" big time or something like that.

If memory serves, the Mughal emperor Jahangir had a knife made from a meteorite. L.E. Here goes: http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectNumber=F1955.27a-b Apparently it ended up in the Smithsonian.

First problem with installing a decent safe is that it risks to attract some unwanted attention. These things are heavy and it will require some time to unload and to transport inside the house (even worse if we're discussing about an apartment inside a tall building. All it takes is a shady character in the area during the process and your house suddenly becomes an interesting target. Perhaps even for thieves who know what they're doing and don't use crowbars. Besides, keep in mind what Chris said, that's unfortunately very true. I'm not saying that a home safe is an absurd idea, just that it has some cons that aren't always very obvious. Sometimes a "secret" room with concrete walls, a solid door and a standalone&monitored alarm system can be way safer.

Of course, that guy got arrested because had the knives on himself. Air staff has the right to check in luggage (for free) on pretty much any inter-continental flight and their luggage has to comply with the same rules as the passenger's luggage. Having a pilot (of a long distance flight) courier an item that can be legally transported on a plane as checked in luggage involves no cost and almost no effort for him. A civilian would have to buy a ticket and in most cases at least one night at a hotel.

Looks to me like soon enough the only reliable method to move antique swords between countries will be by getting acquainted with pilots and other flight personnel...

Alan, I think you need to factor in the custom taxes/VAT/whatever and shipping cost. After adding those to your price, there may be little room left for a dealer's profit. I suppose the sword is currently in SA, so there are custom taxes/VAT/whatever to be paid if importing it to the EU. If memory serves (saw it on an old topic) these amount to about 20% when importing nihonto to Germany from non-EU countries.

You don't see too often nice koto blades in full polish, with nice koshirae, going for $2000. As a matter of fact I'd say is going to be a while before such a good deal appears again within the$1500-$2000 price range.