Bruce Pennington

Fine example!

I had this filed as a "Feb 1941" but I think it's really 1942, no month - correct?

ANNNDDD another one! HERE

At first, with 2 daggers having different serial numbers, this had the possibility of being something pieced together post-war for souvenirs. But I've just come across a third with the same "015728" serial number, but with kanji on the other side rather than the Seki stamp. So, repeated serial numbers is a classic error of fakery. Found here on Guns.ru

I don’t know. I simply saw it as I’m combing through a Russian website looking for stamps and Mantetsu blades.

Thanks Moriyama-san! So diety name, makes sense.

Seal script mei! Anyone? Found on this Guns.ru site.

He's listed #3 on page 9 of this one: Don't know if there's another George meant.

There is an interesting gunto posted ON THIS RUSSIAN SITE, that I think is original. Dated Feb 1945, it has poor quality Type 98 tsuka/tsuba, but really poor quality RS saya, black painted. My first thought was pieced together, post war, but the really poor RS saya along with the low quality 98 fittings really strike me as emergency late-war rush-job work. I realize that the multiple holes in the nakago means the blade was re-fitted at least once. So it likely began it's life in Rinji seishiki fittings and was re-fitted with the Type 98 tsuka/tsuba set. What is puzzling is why there would be 2 holes at the end of the nakago. Type 98 tsuka only need one hole. Rinji tsuka use 2. So why the extra hole at the end? I still think it was all WWII original, but definitely some refitting happened in it's short life.

You've got a nice collectable item there, Tony. While not "rare", the Gifu stamped 95s are not that common, and the early models with the authentic wrap are in short supply. I have one too, and as a 95 collector, these are a "must have" item! My Nagoya with the same wrap is also loose in the fittings. My experience with the Nagoya Arsenal 95s is that their quality control wasn't as tight as the Kokura/Tokyo Arsenal operation. Less precise bohi and not uncommon loose fittings. So, not as "pretty" as a Tokyo gunto, they are still unique in their own way and worth preserving/collecting.

Peter, Any stamped numbers on the back edge of the nakago?

Jan ‘44

Interesting - Katsumasa was one of the few non-RJT smiths with numbered blades, and I now have 4 of his: Jan 1943 "133" Jan 1943 "168" May 1943 "1550" Dec 1944 "254" And he is the only observed Nagoya stamped smith with numbered blades.

Tony, Are any of the fittings stamped with "1550"? And could I get a shot of the whole gunto?

That one looks more correct. Accurately aged and stitching looks right.

What da heck!? So, I wonder if they were making Army fittings or maybe just in-taking gunto from civil shops to process for the Army?

I’m not bothered by the kikusui. They weren’t stamped, they where each hand made. You can see many variations here:

Maybe @Stegel or @PNSSHOGUN can say for sure. To me it looks like a good reproduction. Here’s a picture of one of mine. You’ll see some differences.

Yes, officer sword. Combat weapon not a dress sword. Someone should be able to translate the smith’s name for you.

Think this is the same anchor as on this reg page? If so, what does the reg say about this anchor? ht Found by @Kiipu on this SFI thread.

His pics over there are better. I'm no mei expert, but I thought the mei was poorly cut, but then I've pooh pooh'ed poor mei before that turned out to be legit. The kikusui looks brand new, but then I think it was just cleaned by who ever did the polish. The date shows better over there too, and is corroded but could be Showa 11, 1936. Was the Shrine producing blades in '36? LINK TO OTHER THREAD

Is that dated Showa 11, 1936? Have you got the smith name?

@michael7, Does this one have numbers stamped on the nakago mune? I have 3 others like this on file, and the one posted by @paul griff HERE has numbers there. @Nobody - Moriyamasan, the guys on Paul's sword, said the company name was "Tōyō Hamono Kabushiki Kaisha saku = Made by Tōyō Knife Co., Ltd. " - I'm taking it that the English version of Toyo Hamono Co is Toyo Knife Co? I found a Toyama Hamono co. online and they called it "cutlery". Am I slicing these words too thin?

Dawson called them "patrolman and sergeant" swords. Fuller called them "mounted police" swords. Fuller described the grip as leather. There was a great variety in styles for these, so I'm not bothered by any of that. What does bother me is that it all looks so new, like it was made yesterday. I suppose someone could have simply given it a really good buff up. I have only seen Type 19s faked once or twice, and never seen a police sword faked. The fakes tend to use obviously poor quality metals, whereas this one looks to have quality metal work. My gut says it's legit.

This is my Kunitoshi tsuka