tbonesullivan

Oh wow. So that's what they are supposed to look like. Having seen so many Type 98/94 swords out there, it's nice to see the epitome of that style koshirae.

Nice!!!! That really is a lovely blade. Definitely take care of it! Might benefit from a polish, but I don't know whether you would see an increase in value equal to the cost of the polish. But, it is really nice, so if you think it's a keeper, maybe it's worth it. It's in relatively good condition, so I would assume that they would not need to bring it back as much or address any geometry issues.

Not having a date or a signature is a bummer, but if it is traditionally made, that would definitely make it worth more. It also depends a lot on the marketplace it is sold in: the Japanese Sword marketplace, or the Military Collectibles marketplace. I can speak more to the latter: If it's an identified USGI bring back that majorly adds to the value of the sword, regardless of whether it's a Showato or a Gendaito. If there are "bring back" papers, that helps even more. The type 98 mountings look to be in very good shape. I would look at the seppa and the Tsubba, Tsuka, Fuchi, etc to see if they have any numbers on them in Western Arabic or Japanese. Sometimes the numbers will be both, but if they all match that would indicate it hasn't been "messed with".

Is that sharkskin or ray skin that has been lacquered and/or sanded down? I've dealt with sharkskin on American and European swords, and it definitely doesn't look like that. I've also seen that kind of pattern on Kai-Gunto scabbards.

Let me see if I can get more info. My friends know I'm "into Japanese swords" and have had to deal with them sometimes at work, and also took a year of Japanese in college, which doesn't help me at all, but I still get sent pictures from people who've "got a sword". I'll try to post a large picture of the tang tomorrow. They said there is no writing on the other side of the tang. It also apparently has a big dragon engraving, which I haven't seen a close up of, but it's supposed to be a sword brought back from WWII. No idea if the dragon engraving is real or something someone added down the line. Fittings are the standard Army pattern, brown painted steel scabbard, etc.

As someone who deals a lot with collectibles, I'd have to agree. Unless it has some incredible Koshirae or provenance, it's better to leave it as is, and let it go. This was a sword that saw use, which unfortunately has not left it in the best condition for any type of collecting purposes. If it didn't have those nicks, I'd say think about it, but with those, the amount of the blade that would need to be removed is not small. I see it all the time with musical instruments. At least those have an inherent "use", so even sinking a lot of money into a basket-case has a potential Return on Investment. For that sword? I don't think so.

Well, staring at Kanji lists for the past hour has done nothing but give me eye strain. Every time I think I have a candidate, I find a way to disqualify it. I can't tell whether the second characters lower left is one continuous stroke, or two different ones. I wish sword smiths (or their assistants) had better handwriting. Is there any type of database of kanji showing how they usually appear when actually signed on a tang?

Most of what I deal with are Showato, which is what the majority of "Bring-Backs" are. Lot of oil-tempering, to completely machine made. Thankfully I was able to get a close up look at some real blades over the years.

Well... raw copper is definitely up. Sadly one of my other loves is brass instruments, and they just keep getting more and more expensive due to material costs.

Might make sense to get the whole thing translated. Looks to be a great historical piece!

Is it normal for the Bo-hi to extend all the way through the Nakago like that? Or is that just a sign that the sword was shortened? I've seen some swords where the bo-hi goes into the Nakago, but not off the end like that. I have seen an older sword with the Bo-Hi extending into the kissaki, though I don't know if it was attributed correctly.

Well, hello again. I joined back on July 9th, but it looks like the forum must have had a hiccup, as I can't find any posts started around that time. I wish I could remember my introduction from last time. I also got some great responses and information regarding books and reference material. Anyway, I'm a big Japanese edged weapon fan from New Jersey, and hope to attend meetings at the New York Token-Kai. They haven't announced a meeting since Jun 30th, so I guess they are on break for the summer, when it's not deadly hot in Manhattan. I hope to learn a lot and gain a much bigger appreciation of Nihonto. I also do have to deal with them sometimes for my job, so being able to use the right terminology to describe them is key. Thankfully any I deal with are 20th Century in Military Fittings, or already identified when we get them.

I read the thread, and it indicated that for green papers, which office it was performed at was important, as it was mainly the branch offices that produced questionable attributions. I'm unfortunately too green to read the origami. Anyway, I found the auction, and it shows the item location to be in Hungary, which would indicate why it hasn't been returned for a more recent shinsa.