Lareon

I do this a lot. I've imported last year 3 times and have 5 swords currently coming to the UK from two different auctions in the USA. I usually request ups as even though it takes longer. It converts to parcelforce In the UK which are one of the only sword carrying services, I hate parcelforce but I'd rather that than the item returned to sender. I always put harmonic tarrif 9706.00.00.00 Antique over 100 years. I also write a description of the sword and "relief requested" I then ask the shipper to include this in the documentation attached to the package Including the invoice. I expect to pay 5% at the border. The process can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months worse case. Currently have one being shipped with ups and even though I asked for ups the other auction house has shipped with DHL express. This is currently on hold in the USA and. Assuming I'm going to have issues as I'm pretty sure DHL don't carry swords in the UK anymore, I reckon I'll have to argue for them to refund that postage and ship again with ups once the items are returned to them. So that will definitely be a hassle. The ups item is scheduled for tomorrow but it will most likely be held in high value storage at customs for a while and not be delivered for a while yet.

This isn't a piece of crap. I don't know what you paid but it is something I would buy, I nearly bought a fire damaged RTJ which to most is worthless just to save it from poor care / being lost. The polish on yours is brash sure and I'm not a big fan of that but there's plenty to like about it other than the polish I've bought a lot worse swords simply because I've wanted them. I'm sad you've changed your mind and think that your purchase isn't good and is s**t. It all depends on your collecting goals though. Think back to why you originally wanted it. those reasons haven't changed.

I'd be interested to find out more about the straight blade. "Kanbun style"

I have a gunto with what looks to be celluloid. The mounts in general are quite high quality. Yoshiharu blade

So with this information, if the sword was produced by Sadahiro in 1942 and he was born in 1925 then he was 17 when he made this sword, interesting I will grab that e-book too although i kind of want the hardcover of it too so might wait and buy those - i think the ebook comes with that from what i saw on his website

here is a one piece fuchi seppa on this "ornate gunto"

Here's some more pictures of the mounts and fittings. I can't get any more photos of the nakago at the moment but when it arrives (a month ish) I can take some better photos than these I bought it for the early Kaigunto mounts and sword hanger primarily

I've added one more, but there's no other photos of the mei to upload that are any better. I'll have the sword in hand probably in a months time. Thanks!

Was wondering if anyone would help me with the following mei on this showa naval gunto?

yeah they've all been treated like crap but if the price is low i'll most likely grab a couple and give them some love the fire damaged one hurts

yes that's what my gut says too. once i have it in hand in a month or two i'll be able to tell better

Hi All, Bought this on a whim on the back of a couple of other items, the price was cheap and I like the beaten up swords. not looking for any real value in this one but more interested in the way it carries itself. The fittings are a mix of naval parts and bits and pieces of shin gunto parts (fuchi etc) some pierced some not. I dislike this as it speaks to me of someone putting fittings together to make a sword, could also be lack of parts at some point and putting it to service has the bearing of a kai gunto but with an ornate gold tsuba section that i've never seen before, anyone seen anything like this on a kai gunto? has a family mon on the mekugi, looks to be a moon. the habaki is silver looking, will look into this more when it's in hand, looks to have a few marks on it that could be from fitting. blade is damaged with fairly big chips from the cutting edge, not signed, question 1. was this meant to be a naval sword or is it just a Frankenstein of parts? question 2. should that wooden saya have 1-2 Haikan and a leather cover. could even be a lost cloth cover what do people think? question 3. the tsuba centre is pierced but the naval insets are not, one seppa is and the fuchi is a gunto button press missing the button / latch here's a link to the lot with some more pictures. as i said, i'm not looking at value in this one, just interested in people's opinions https://bid.sofedesignauctions.com/lots/view/4-4L7HMK/good-ww-ii-mounted-Japanese-samurai-katana-sword-koto-to-shinto-era-blade-nice-gilt-hilt-mounts-probably-for-a-naval-officer 310.101.jfif

they only let me clear the payment once it's been released from border control. so you have to wait until its cleared customs before you can pay

I have a lot of problems with parcelforce in general. I live in a small village and have never received a package from them just an alert it was delivered. Usually it's with a neighbour. I find the service to be poor in general and the tracking is lacking but that's just a general complaint. This was the worst I've had but I have waited over a month on average to clear for every higher value international package with parcelforce. When this one arrived at the delivery depot I went and collected it the minute I could.

Nope. They said it was in high value storage awaiting border control. But every time I called up they basically told me to wait. Eventually I managed to get an email address to someone in parcelforce customs and they then just asked me to send another invoice and within a week it was released with its 5% tax

It was from the USA. I tracked it from start to finish and it sat in customs high value for nearly two months. I chased it so many times but parcelforce were never any help. FedEx are good they deliver to your door and clear customs within a few days but parcelforce have always been trouble for me. 27/8/2021 9:42 Delivery Agent -CHICAGO…+Delivery Agent - CHICAGO Despatched to the UK 28/10/20210:52SEPC IMPLIEDReceived at delivery depot

So far the cheapest was $516 from ups Ive paid usually around $110 per sword before. I'm awaiting a quote from one of them still

It once took parcelforce two months to clear a sword for me. Even with the right papers and codes. I refused to pay the charge and they accepted that.

Thanks I had the itch with the sofe auction. there was only one I wanted originally but it went a fair bit higher than I wanted then I ended up with 3 others. Will most likely post them up in a month or two on the forum when they get through customs. Cheers!

Hi, thanks Robert. I ship into the UK quite a lot so I'm good with my tax / import codes etc. Was just looking for a cheap reliable recommendation if someone had one so I could compare costs against the ones sofe recommends as the costs can vary quite a bit shipping internationally I only bought swords valid for import anyway so Im fine there. One showa and 2 koto traditionally made. So valid for import

Here is the closest symbol from my book except that little circle which doesn't fit at all and I think the second character is more like the second photo @SteveM

Hi all, Bought a couple of items in Texas yesterday and want to ship them to the UK. Does anyone have any recommendations for a reliable pack and ship? I contacted a couple that were recommended by the auction house but if anyone has a recommendation i would be interested to hear. (P.s wasn't 100% sure on which category to post this to so feel free to move it if needed Brian) Cheers!

As others have said its a giant spider web. Earlier in Japanese history you needed permission to have a Mon and use it but as time went on the system got lax. Also many families had more than one Mon. 4 or 5 just to show allegiances etc etc. But then your mon could change if you were granted the right to use your superiors ( by them)

I bought a book a while ago from Ronald Watson In his sale It's an old Japanese book on mon and has hundreds upon hundreds of Mon in there and their derivatives. (Excuse the purple lighting in the photos) I'm quite happy to look up any for anyone that they can't find any info on. Just @ me and I'll reply