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Hi, Your pics are too small to pass any judgement, but inscriptions like this are usually found on fake swords, so please post better pictures but be ready for a disappointment.

You should see France, Chris!

Just remember that if you get a NCO sword, those don’t have a Hamon as they were probably through tempered.

Paul, Money is tight, so my swords are nothing special, but as you said, I’m trying to have a focused collection with at least one example of each period. I have several of the same period because I started collecting before having that focus but here’s the plan: - Kamakura/Nambokucho: this one is still missing and will be the most expensive I guess. Ideally, I’d need one for both periods but since I won’t be able to afford two, I’ll try to find something transitional. The goal is Bizen. Will probably come last. - Muromachi: Done -Kanbun Shinto: Done - Shinto Genroku: Done - Shinshinto: Done - Shinshinto Kinnoto: still to be done - Kyu Gunto: still to be done - Showato: Done - Gendaito: still to be done Then I’m finished. Unless I may pursue another endeavor if I have money and time: Mantetsu. I have two, but recently, I’m toying with the idea of getting one with each signatures. 42 and 44 shouldn’t be difficult, 45 probably impossible and the one with the railroad symbol possible but costly.

You are wrong, at least, I’d be very interested to see your gems. It’s always a pleasure to see the others' collection. And if you’re afraid to show them because you think they’re not worth it, then you should see my miserable 10 swords collection!

Chris, when it is printed, you need to share it with us. 36 swords! That’s a nice collection.

... and SHO is short for Showa. By the way, your sword was made in Seki if you don’t know that already.

It’s the sort of blade made for tourist at the end of the 19th century. Most of the time, the blade is of very low quality and not tempered. The mountings (koshirae) are not a Shirasaya (made of wood). Those pieces weren’t even made of ivory, but bone. They can be interesting for the sculpting but of no value for sword collectors, or just maybe as a way to show how low sword forging had sunk before the WW2 revival. the others are right, we all do the same mistake and buy before reading, but the proper order should be books first, swords second. Of course, the temptation is hard to resist!

Very, very fake, run, and fast!

Just an update on shipping internationally from the US. At the moment, I have 3 parcels coming from the USA that are have been stuck in a warehouse one for more than 15 days. No updates, no movement, nothing! One is in Chicago, One is in NY, One is in Florida, My point is, if anyone here has stuff to send, don’t do it now. It’s a mess at the moment.

If only...

Probably wrong about the date, more likely early Shinto. Unless the yasurime I see are not Keisho.

Not an expert but am tempted to say Koto, Mino, probably Muromachi. But wait until the real experts give their opinion

That is true, as a buyer, I hate PB. When you buy small items via eBay, the Global Shipping Program almost doubles the price of the item by adding shipping AND taxes. Using the local post for smaller items usually keeps prices lower as there are so many parcels in customs Thant the liabilities of yours being inspected or taxed is quite low. Since PB does the declaration, you always pay the taxes. Now, for a sword, I don’t think there’s any way to skip them but at least, things seem to work fine with USPS. As I said in one of my posts above, the key is documentation. Services that do the work for you are supposed to be facilitators, but that isn’t always true.

I think eBay uses Pitney Bowes for international shipping, at least towards Europe they do. But in the end, it doesn’t really make a difference because I think PB only coordinates the transport through the local services (in this case USPS and whatever the Canadian post is called). They also collect taxes and make sure the parcel goes through customs. So if they couldn’t deliver this one, the issue is more likely some sort of issue with the customs, i.e. too many parcel at the moment stored because of Covid. I think we’d better wait a few weeks before shipping international again. The French post is just starting to work okay again, Japan is still a clusterxxxx, USPS doesn’t move parcels for days... etc.

... and once again, Paul, I don’t think the thread took a different way. What Darcy says goes directly into your argument. We shouldn’t buy a sword just because it has papers. We should first study it and if it is papered, so much the better, but that shouldn’t be the main point in one’s decision. Btw, it’s also easy for me to say that as most of the swords I can afford aren’t papered. Papers often double the price of a sword, so you feel like you’re paying half the price of the sword for a piece of paper.

Paul, I think on the contrary you are making both the same point but for different reasons. You say not to rely so much on papers because we should study first and foremost and Kirill points out why we shouldn’t always rely on papers. I think both posts are heavily connected since they both say: study first, papers second.

I said it in another thread about another topic, Kirill, but if I could, I’d like your post more than once. I’m a cynic and have always believed opinions were nothing more than that.

I don’t want to rain on your parade, Mark, but inscriptions like this on a blade are never a good sign. I’m no real expert but this smells of fake. I hope others will prove me wrong though.

Your advices at the bottom of the post should be the golden rules, Paul. I have one and a half (the half being one with papers that got lost so only a photograph of the NBTHK kanteisho still exists) swords which are papered. I can’t really afford papered blades and TBH, I don’t really care whether it is shoshin or Gimei so long as I like what I see. My one and 1/2 papered swords look good, but my favorite sword is signed by Sukehiro 1 and without paper, it is likely Gimei. The signature and style seem to match, but I don’t care if I got the real deal or not. I just know my eyes sparkle every time I look at it and I never tire of doing it. So I guess it’s a feeling that no paper can reproduce.

Couldn’t this be a katate uchi?

I guess the Hamon would be described as gunome midare, but I can see some choji and some Suguha areas too. As for the koshirae, it is a 19th century koshirae. It was probably made for another blade and remounted later on with yours. Happens frequently.

what was I telling you? The seppa (posted on April 2, from England to France, roughly a tiny baby leap on the world’s scale) showed up today, more than a month after shipping!

Yes, it works really bad with Japan. I have a parcel that has been stuck in Osaka for more than two weeks (regular shipping) and has just landed in France last week but is still in customs. I have another via EMS which has been in Tokyo for about two weeks. On the 5th, I was notified that it was finally being transferred to the French EMS company, but transfer must be quite long as it still isn’t in their hands. So far, from all the countries I order from, Japan seems to be the most affected in their functioning. HK and China are quite long, but China always is, even during regular times.

So did you get it? I ask ‘cuz I’m jealous!