MarcoUdin

And don't forget to add your name to your original post or under it, as it's a forum rule

I'm not the person to be asking whether is a genuine cord or not but there were to variations of the naval sword knot. One was more gold and one was more tan, they believe that different makers varied the color slightly. Assuming it's genuine, which I do, it's just your basic naval sword knot which doesn't tell what rank the person was or wether it was original to the Gunto specifically. It would be correct to be matched with this sword as it has the zig zag pattern. So sorry, no rank can be indicated but it is what would be correct to a naval kyu gunto. Here is a pic from Dawson's book

I was about to comment that their is a nice post about Tassels in the warrelics forum but it seems Stegel is already here who i believe made the post. As for the Tassel John, i would be inclined to agree with you as they seem so similar. I believe it's a real tassel, but we'll likely never know for sure why they were made.

Can't speak for the blade, but those are some very slick looking mounts. Looks more formal, much like kai gunto mounts.

Believe that is a karabana (chinese flower), it's not based off any real flower I'm aware of. This is what was in Hawley's book

Yes I do believe it's Tokugawa. Kamo Aoi was sacred to Kamo Shrine in Kyoto. In Hawley's family crest book he talks about descendants of Tokugawa clan often did slight variations to the crest while maintaining the hollyhocks as the symbol.

Nice piece Neil, and at an excellent price.

Been busy lately and have no idea how I missed this update, but just purchased the 12 month and had no problems. Hopefully turnout has been good.

The value would be affected more if the blade had damage, so I wouldn't worry too much about the saya. As for Bruce I'm sure he doesn't mind me speaking on his behalf, he is only speaking for the blade. Militaria is worth as much as somebody is willing to pay and it's very hard to quantify it. Things like provenance add value when it's during an important battle or area.

Thanks Bruce!

In general, low moisture + low oxygen = black rust.

I'm not an expert, but I believe those black spots are still rust. Usually when moisture gets trapped under the layer of choji oil. Usually becomes black if there is so little moisture that it does not form red rust. Other possibility is saya gets swollen, makes contact with blade causing moisture to transfer from saya to blade. Which then forms rust and stains saya.

https://forums.gunboards.com/#/topics/1160271 No idea who the seller is but if anybody is interested there is the Japanese sword by Kazan Sato for $18 and the samurai sword: an American perspective for $20

Please do correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not sure this is relevant at all, but if I recall correctly on arisaka's the 'M' is not an M but 'ro'. And was used for training, I think it was something like educational use only. Nothing to do with the long 'M' which meant military reserves. I'll check later if I can find where I read that, it's been a while.

I aware they can still put, I should've better explained myself. The nakago is completely dark, and most of the SS examples I've seen have only spotting on the nakago and not the entire surface. Apart from that the blade is magnetic and it's my understanding the SS used on navy blades is non-magnetic. I may be entirely wrong, just what I've read and seen. Your opinions/suggestions are more than welcome.

Don't know if you were talking about my sword Adam, but I'm quite positive it is not stainless steel because it has a few rust spots and can see some loose grain here and there. It's my understanding that SS blades look very uniform and shiny. Definitely an acid etched hamon and most likely machined, could be a mix of hand and machine but almost positive it's just machined.

Forgot to mention mine is an unsigned Seki stamped Kai, 25 inches long

I was thinking of this post the other day and never thought to check if my kissaki was thick. After I took a better look it actually does get larger at the tip but my boshi doesn't look nearly that nice.

Yeah he wouldn't take less than 3,500 and I even mentioned there is one sold in full polish and with nbthk for less than 5k not too long ago, bringing that sword back in full polish would be more than than 1,500 hundred imho. It's his sword and he can do what he wants with it, I just hope it doesn't get neglected. I also noticed there are several swords with the same name but are made by different family members/generation and the quality changes drastically

Welcome, I believe the mon is Mizuno family, somebody else will correct me if I'm wrong.

Actually found it quicker than I thought. Sorry for spam posting :D http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/25975-breaking-news-on-the-all-brown-army-gunto-tassel/#:~:text=Anyone%20have%20contact%20info%20for,gunto%20seem%20to%20confirm%20this. Hopefully this helps

What is the measurement for the length of the tassel. If I'm not mistaken I recall Bruce posting something from the war relics forums saying the navy tassels were shorter than army tassels, as I looked into it a couple months ago. I don't have the post bookmarked but I'm sure someone could find it

I'm assuming you meant to post a picture with it? Or is it just not loading up for me?

Yeah I offered even less than you so he's probably not going to like my offer at all. And my offer was pending better photos. No harm done though, I was making offer based off of how much I was willing to pay for what I want and not what he thinks it's worth. Thanks for the help

As some of you may have seen I'm interested in getting a decent gunto with a mon. This one came up on gunbroker, https://www.gunbroker.com/item/872315689. There are very few pics and anticipate asking for more, I'm just curious about the signature if anybody can give me some description on it and if its correct. Any info on the smith would be appreciated. I don't want the tassel and obviously not looking to spend the asking price but he said he is willing to talk. Any help is appreciated. Wasn't sure if I was supposed to post this in the auction or military sword thread, move me if needed thanks.