Surfson

Both of those tsuba are beautiful and elegant. For the koi design, which fish is Democrat and which one is Republican?

I buy on ebay quite a bit, and have picked up some great swords, along with a few boo-boos. In general, the Chinese fakes don't bring much, so I think that ebay buyers are generally on to them. What is more fascinating are the dealers that were referred to above who are buying rejects at the Japanese auctions and then putting them on ebay. These swords have big names on them, almost never have papers, and are in good polish. I like to play a game with myself - what's wrong with this sword? I never buy from these dealers and generally only focus on bring-back swords. The sad part of all of this is that there is now a steady flow of this sludge from Japan to the US and these swords will be circulating in the sword shows, auctions and private sales. This means we will have to be more vigilant than ever about the swords on our market.

At the price, it's an ok starter sword I think. I wouldn't invest in a polish - enjoy it, study it, and when you're ready to move up, you shouldn't have a problem selling it at that price on ebay. It looks like it is tired, has kizus and the chip in the monouchi would eventually grate. I didn't study the mei.

I'm with the other kaos

I agree that it looks to be shortened. To my eye, it looks like Kanbun Shinto, maybe late 17th century. As to value, assuming that kantei doesn't indicate a rare maker, I am guessing in the $1500-$2000 range on ebay. The fuchi has been corroded by the leather sheath. All in all, it looks to be quite a desirable sword. Congrats.

I see that crack that I think you are referring to, but it doesn't look to me like it is in the ha. Rather, it looks to be in the nakago.

Looks to me like Echigo no kami Kanesada

Just ordered - thanks for the recommendation. B

There is one motif with a rope looped around what looks like a woven basket. I have a fuchi with such a basket and it was explained to me that it is used as an anchor when filled with rocks during fishing.

Hi All. Though I have posted once or twice, I should introduce myself as well. I became interested in Nihonto when I bought a shinto wakizashi on my first trip to Japan. Next I bought a book and another book and so it goes. Now I have a collection of several dozen swords, a mix of koto, shinto and shinshinto. I like Mishina blades and seem to have a few of them. I enjoy the website quite a bit and just wanted to say hi. Cheers, Bob

Looks to me like it might possibly be an unsigned Tadatsugu. Any thoughts?

Just an observation, but the age of the mei doesn't seem to match the age of the nakago.

I have enjoyed this thread, even though it has broken down and gotten a bit personal. It is almost like a car enthusiast and a motorcycle enthusiast discussing which is more interesting. I suspect that most who read this thread and post here are interested in Samurai swords. A machine made gunto is not a Samurai sword and is simply a different animal - a Japanese sword no doubt, but not made in the traditional style. As an investment though, I don't believe that either have been particularly good over the years, and if anything the gunto have outperformed the Samurai swords (i.e. shinshinto and earlier). I have been collecting nearly 25 years and believe that $2000 will buy a Samurai sword now just as good as the one it bought in the mid 80s. On the other hand, the guntos have clearly gone up. It was possible then to buy as many NCO swords you could store for $100 each and shin guntos went for $300. Both have tripled to quintupled since then while the true Samurai swords have barely moved in the intermediate and low price range. Having said all that, I find the true, hand made, pre-Meiji Samurai swords are much more interesting as a piece of art and exceptional craftsmanship. PS, I had a bad experience with Macsmilitary

Hi All. This is my first time on the board, though I have read it once or twice. Having studied the blade a bit, and comparing it to examples in the Shinto Taikan, it appears to clearly be a second generation Masatoshi. The example in Fujishiro is not great and quite different from the ones in the Taikan and the one on this blade. He is listed as chujosaku by Fujishiro. Cheers, Surf