Bruce Pennington

They are factory assembly numbers "3 8" put on pieces to keep them together. Every piece is custom fitted to each blade. Getting them jumbled around with other blades' fittings would be a pain, so they put numbers on them to keep them together. Price is normal, and like all collecting - if you like the item and feel good about what you paid, then it's a good price.

Chris, From the Ohmura website, they are both Kokura insp 　"Army Arsenal Kokura Factory - Kokura Army Arsenal inspection mark: "Ko". 　"Ko" stamp is not discovered except for the following example. It seems that the inspection mark 　used the "To" commonly since most Tokyo Factories relocated to Kokura Factory. 　 　"Army Arsenal Kokura First Factory inspection mark: "Ho"."

Vlad, Thanks for that update! I think you're right - it was a Tokyo Arsenal (Kokura in early years) inspector. I was about to argue about the Kanenori as a Seki smith, but remembered Seki was under Kokura prior to 1942. I'm still puzzled by the Matesu blades with it, but your proposal may explain it.

Beautiful, Neil!!! I've always loved those seppa arraingments.

Neil, WHat a beauty! So, it's actually silver? Looks like it because it's oxidized, right?

wow Peter, that handle looks bad! I might lean towards Stephen's view on this one! The saya looks mostly good, weak detail on the ashi, but the look is right. That tsuka though - sheeeesh! Menugi in wrong place, some sort of plastic wrap over a clearly fake same'. Bad ito wrapping job. At best, if the blade and tsuba are legit, someone has done a ametuer job rebuilding the tsuka.

Chris, I see what you mean, and I've never seen on made that way, cool!!! It look authentic though, and I'd say the "family" blades like this are almost always in customized fittings, so this doesn't actually surprise me. Andy, It's clearly an older blade. Pics of the full blade, handle off, will help the guys that study the older blades, and a measurement of the blade back, straight line, from tip to tang-notch (where the brass sleeve rests) is often helpful for dating.

Chris, the 80 figure comes from the original official documents drafting the order to produce them. Naturally, any personalization/upgrading would up the ante on price.

And I'd say it's upside down?

John, http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8079933&posted=1#post8079933 Check this out:

YES, it was the first one!

It's a Type 98 Officer sword in leather-wrapped combat saya (scabbard). The white plastice-looking material in the handle, under the silk wrap is called celluloid, a man-made replacement for the stingyray skin that is normally there, but fairly commonly found on officer swords. Don't be afraid to remove the handle like Jean says. Most likely there will be a swordsmith name imprinted on the tang (nakago). Take the picture with the blade tip pointed up and tang pointed down so it can be read easily. There may be writing on both sides, so post them both if so. Check for a small stamp, if there, at the top of the tang. Also, please give pics of the tip of the blade and a section of the middle. Shots of the handguard and spacers once off, and a closeup of the metal tip on the handle are useful.

Steve, I JUST saw one, but for the life of me I can't remember where it was. Seems like it was on a Facebook group, but a quick brows through didn't turn it up. It's the first one I'd seen in Rinji mounts.

Yes, it would cause caution. But all the parts look legit. I think someone just thought they could "pretty it up" with the paintjob.

Quite beautiful - I've never seen a tsuba painted like that. I wonder if that was done post-war? Also, I thought sharkskin had diamond-like shapes, and eel-skin has the round shapes. But very nice.

The black-laquered saya and belt-loop (ashi) are made for a leather cover. The covers tended to take a beating and are often missing by the time we get them. There is nothing wrong with adding a seppa or more, as long as they are WWII legit itmes. My dad's Mantetsu came with no seppa or tsuba! I bought some from a Japanese dealer on fleabay and it's now quite beautiful!!! Blades were often refitted from civi to military and back. They often got replacement parts from repair teams throughout the war. Don't hesitate to find a suitable replacement.

Thanks for the update! There was a wait-list for them during the war.

Ok, I checked - the tsuba is steel!

That's interesting Chris! I had never heard what it's made of, thanks! Thanks for the pics Brandon. So my stuff looks like the steel tsuba, coated with other stuff then, because they clearly don't look like the coopper in those pics. I'll try the magnet later today, but I suspect it will work out like Chris' experience. Thanks guys! Interesting discussion and discovery.

This is an old pic of the tsuba. When I get time, I'll take a file to the nakago ana and see what I find.

Kyle, yours looks like one I have so I checked, and mine has the same copper color. I haven’t tried to test it to see if it’s actually copper. Mine has the same plastic same’ and saya color.

John, After a brief perusal of Dawson's book, he has a couple of examples, one a Type 8 and the other a court blade, that have serious blades like yours. Both were custom made, but he seemed more focused on the fittings rather than the blade. Fuller & Gregory state: "The blade was down to the owner's choice and may often be of some age, being reused from older samurai swords. Contemporary oil-temered or hand-forged gendaito can also be found but are in the tradtional shinogi-zukuri form."

That is what interesting, isn’t Stephen! The Mantetsu run the gamut on price. In good condition they tend to be at the higher end of officer gunto prices, $1,400-2,400 USD. I have seen them go for $3,600 and higher. Poor ones have sold at bottom end like any other gunto.

That's a good one Steve!!! My first reply didn't work, as I was trying to use the keyboard laughing emoji. This is odd because there is another thread where this dealer was getting good reviews. He either copied & pasted the wrong paragraph on the item description or clearly doesn't know what he is doing. But that would be odd because the guys that like him say he sells hundreds of swords.

Seems like I've seen something like this discussed somewhere. I think it was a blade presented to someone, like at a school, or factory, or something.