Davetom

Went to the Arms Fair at the Motorcycle Museum (U.K.), and the very helpful chaps from the Northern Token Society estimated my sword at 1630ish . They were very informative and gave me tips on possibly getting it polished, and some leads on who to do it ( although they stressed the sword may be too far gone to do too much with ). Many thanks for the assistance on here, and also thanks to John ( Shugyosha) for kindly posting a couple of Uchikos to me at his own expense. I’ll report back again when there’s anything of interest to share with you. Dave

John - thanks for the tips and information, I’ll PM you ???? That’s a good call from Mark re the Arms fair at the museum, I’m only 20 mins from there so I’ll try and go next Sunday. My son is in a Rememberence Day parade but that should be over by lunchtime

The tang has also been covered in an industrial type adhesive tape for the last 40yrs or so ( my father did it but no idea why ?!). Here’s one final pic of a close up of the scabbard detail. There’s 4 of these circles within a circle that show up in the right light

Thanks John. Have to admit I wire-wooled the tang to make it more legible, I’ll leave well alone ! If any has any recommendations of U.K. experts ll happily take them. I’ve had a quick look on Google and not yet out d one that sounds suitable, but it was a quick look

Many thanks Steve, I have to say it’s been a fascinating journey already, and s whole new world has opened up for me. Yesterday afternoon, my 8 yr old and his friend were using it ( under supervision ) to cut their Halloween pumpkins up on the lawn for the birds. I guess I’d better not do that again ! It’s been kicking round my fathers garage since before I was around ( I’m 50), and it’s still razor sharp. My hobby is riding and restoring 1920s/30s motorcycles, so I understand your point that it’s provenance determines whether restoration is worthwhile. IF, and I know it’s a big IF, if it were to be who it purports to be, what is it’s value now vs possible value after a lot of work ? ( and cost of the work very approximately ) .im sorry to bring momey into this but this obviously plays a big decision in potential future paths that the sword could take. Besides that, I feel that I ought to try and verify it’s heritage as it would be a shame if something of possible historical interest was left kicking round our garage in its current forlorn state. Kind regards, Dave

Few more..

No patterns or markings visible but here’s some closer pics

Here’s some more pics ..

I’ll upload pics of the various parts tomorrow

Thanks Steve for your prompt reply, it’s all rather fascinating and there’s a lot of information to take in . If it is Masakiyo, how old would that make it ? Thanks, Dave

My apologies but for some strange reason the first two pics rotated 180 deg during the upload process?

Good evening to the forum, may I please ask your assistance in finding any information on a sword that came to me many years ago via my late grandfather. I understand it may probably be militaria, but would be grateful if you could put your collective eyes over it, and possibly shed some light on it. I’ll just post pics of the script and hopefully they will be legible ? Thanks in advance, Dave Thomas