rwallin

please correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the saber is an army parade saber. http://home.earthlink.net/%7Esteinrl/civilian.htm Just looked on ebay and they seem to sell between 100-200. those did not have a family crest on the back of the hilt though. Is there a place to find out about the family crest? The family crest on the sword in the pictures appears to be a 3 petal ?. Looks like the crest is Katabami.

Thanks guys, Couple of questions. 1. As they are, from what you can see, what would these swords value be and would they be worth buying at all for a non-collector of swords? 2. Is getting to the tang something I can do without causing any further damage to the blade? Brian, that is pretty much all rust you see on the blade and it is a shame.

While I'm not a big sword collector at all, I do have a deep interest in Japanese and Chinese history and culture. Recently I've been offered 2 Japanese swords for purchase. Here's the story, They belonged to the gentleman's father who shipped them back in a box marked underwear during WWII. His mother, who "fought" the Japanese until she passed away recently at the age of 90, kept them after her husband had passed but did not think enough of them to take proper care. All that being said be warned that the pictures are not a pretty sight. My initial goal here is to determine what the value of these may be in the condition they are in and if they would be worth trying to restore (although that would probably be out of my price range at the moment). Also any information on the historical aspect would be most beneficial as well. While the owner allowed me the opportunity to take the pictures I simply do not have the luxury of taking the time to research these 2 items and hoping that the wealth of knowledge on this message board will come to my rescue. I took lots of pictures that can been seen here http://www.belmontdesignagency.com/photos/ the A Sword appears to be a dress type sword. Has not been sharpened the B Sword appears to be a more traditional sword that I've seen with the limited time in researching. looks to have been originally sharpened. I can not find a single mark on either of the 2 swords. Thanks so much in advance. Rodney