Seth

I was keeping an eye on this as well and was extremely surprised when it went for what it did. You would think when they said they would not guarantee the mei it would have capped it but I guess not. The blade itself would be a good candidate for gimei. I agree with null on the similarities with the echizen the 3rd.
 

In regards to the file marks that’s a tough one. I have 2 papered 3rd blades and the file marks are reversed between the two. Unless the generation attribution is incorrect it would lead me to believe variation is expected? 
 

Decent gimei.
 

It’s a real “sword” but it is not an authentic nihonto. So based on your question yes it is fake. 
 

Did you have any luck removing the tsuka?

It is signed Nagamitsu, but it looks crude to me even for an Ichihara Nagamitsu blade. Can you provide pictures of the mounts also? I do believe the blade is authentic but the mei has me confused just based off my personal experience. Any stamps on it that you can see?

You will find this helpful.

Japanese SWORDSMITH - Ichihara Nagamitsu (japaneseswordindex.com)

Hey Adam, is he only interested in war mounts? I have two pieces in my collection that do not fit. Both are in shirasaya and in polish. Mumei and gimei. PM if interested.

I am having trouble picking the details out. I have messed with the mei as much as I can.

I am having a really hard time seeing it but here is yours next to a papered example of mine. Keep in mind it is signed Yasutsugu oite echizen saku kore. Maybe not helpful.

I might have found a new use for my photo software. Does this help any? Not that Dale's wasn't good enough just curious. I used AI.

12 hours ago, charlieboy said:

Hi Seth. I've tried getting it off, using boiling water to expand it, but have had no luck.  Seems to me, whichever way I look at it, the blade is not of Japanese origin.  I am now trying to find out if it was an 'island made' sword and, if so, for whom and when.  I appreciate your reply!!

Charlie, if you can’t get it off that’s a bad sign and typical from what I have personally seen with many Chinese swords. I swear they put them on with hammers, it’s all mass produced one size fits all. Could be wrong though just my thoughts. 

I might be wrong, and I am sure someone will correct me swiftly if that's the case, but I do not believe this is of Japanese origin. Seems very crude and the mei and habaki look way off. Can you slide the habaki off the blade? 

What Stephen was saying is if it stands as a mumei blade it isn't worth sending off.  As a fellow newbie, you would be better off spending money on books or a blade in polish. If you take the money spent on this blade, your Nagamitsu, and future work on either of the blades you could easily buy a nice example of your choosing that you could actually study and appreciate. Wish I would have wasted less money on junk(not saying your stuff is junk) when I started, it adds up quickly and the next thing you know you could have bought a nice piece. With that being said it's still a cool piece for $10!

1 hour ago, Vermithrax16 said:

Aoi art had a notification that export applications will be delayed substantially for the next 2 months. At least.

https://www.aoijapan.com/about-the-delay-of-export-permit/

That popped up the day after purchased a blade from them and then it shipped 20 days after which is the quickest they have ever shipped lol. Maybe the move had the opposite effect? I have never purchased tsuba from Japan so nothing to add on to that.

After reading through this thread when it popped into my feed I looked into my mumei type 98. I believe you are correct on the \ being 5 if you haven't already come to that conclusion

My nakago, fuchi, and habaki are filed with \I + III. The tsuba and tseppa are marked with 63. No stamps that I can find FWIW. 

Should I be concerned about this? It is in the body of the listing. Or is this just the actual seller's notes and not buyee terms? Will be my first purchase through buyee if I win of course. 

Thanks Stephen! I like it a lot and going for it.

Realized I didn't put a budget. Ballpark of $500-$1000 but open to higher quality. 

Hey Grey, sent you an email through your site. 

Have enjoyed this thread thoroughly, thanks Eric! 

Going by the actual definition it would be any long & short combo carried by a samurai. Then the collector definition is a matched pair of blades in matched koshirae? Does that sum it up?

So unless we know an actual samurai carried said exact combo (not to include koshirae) we can't actually know if it's a daisho in the general definition sense. What if the dated and matched blades weren't carried by samurai?  

I have not but thanks for the tip, I will check it out.

Does anyone have any kake that they would be willing to part with? Preferably Edo or older but willing to look at modern as well.

Just contributing with my set (redneck daisho ), they are similar but certainly not matched or true. Both are Shinto. Please do not judge on the Chinese kake I haven't found the right real one yet. I also do not keep these out just snapped this pic when inspecting. 

I will take 9, 8, 6. Just sent payment Brian. 

Pm sent.

Picture quality is great from what I can see. If you have access to a high quality printer you could print the pictures out and compare them side by side. This would elminate any potential screen brightness discrepancies. 

But as stated above, for me, would have no problem purchasing off this quality of picture. 

I think I have the wife talked into it so it looks likely for me. Used the birthday card. 

Big fan of this change!