Yes, that would certainly be the best possibility. Unfortunately, as I have neither a car nor a license, it's not possible for me to attend meetings anywhere else than in Baden-Wuerttemberg. But maybe I can find someone to whom I can send the sword. Thank you all again.
Thank you. I didn't ask the polisher for a perfect polish, so he just opened a window to see some of the blade's structures. It was in a very bad condition and it was hard to work it to this point, he said.
So this polished part can not provide any more information about the date of the sword, together with the first pictures?
Thanks again.
Peter
Hello,
Maybe some of you remember the handachi sword that I showed several years ago. In the meantime I got a part of it polished and would like to know if the polished part can provide any additional information concerning the age of the blade. I would be very glad for any answers.
Peter
He has been discussed here earlier. He seems to be an honest, but not very knowledgeable seller. He does provide splendid photos, so every bidder has to judge himself... certainly not a seller for beginners.
I think 500 including shipping is okay, but that's just my personal opinion.
Peter
Hi Ralph,
If you want to decipher the kanji yourself, you might check out http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/kanji/kanji1.htm. It will take a while comparing all the characters, though.
That's a usual WW2 gunto handle.
I don't know how much you know about these swords. "Gunto" are swords that were used by ww2 officers and that resembled earlier samurai swords (tachi). They often had machine made blades, but sometimes traditional (nihonto) blades were used, antique or modern ones. Yours seems to be such a traditionally made blade, just not as old as you probably thought.
That seems to be a gendai blade that fits the gunto koshirae. The complete package seems to have been made around ww2 era, not earlier than 20th century. Can't figure out the smith name yet, but someone else will surely tell you who made the sword.
Thank you for the replies.
Ian, very interesting, thank you very much for the explanation. If I understand that correctly, it would mean that no daitô with such a koshirae can exist, because only bushi were allowed to carry long swords, right?
Do such swords belong into the late edo period or how can they be dated?
Peter