mattlehman

Thanks Grey. I appreciate your help.

I guess it's safe to say no one wants to venture a guess? Does anyone know a good appraiser in the southern california area?

as you can see it's in pretty darn good shape. a few small nicks on the blade and the part of the handle that houses the button release is broken. All the parts are there and working, but the wood around it has deteriorated with age.

more pictures...

I was finally able to pick up the sword and here are full pictures. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of it's value. I need to figure out if I am going to put it on my insurance. thanks

The full blade picture will have to wait a few months. It resides in VA for now and I am in CA. I will be heading back in April/May to drive it back with some other inheritances. Thanks for the tip on the handling.

another photo

Fair enough. I could understand that. Doesn't sound like I would ever be able to find the original family anyways. Truth be told, I've admired it since I was a child and would have been torn to see it go. Next question, which is more for curiosity and will help me in storing it and displaying it. What is the range for it's value? I would never sell it, but should I keep it in a gun safe or display it in my house?

My thoughts were more along the lines of "Hey it was very dishonorable of my grandfather to take this from your family. He realized this after the fact and carried the shame with him until he died. Please forgive him and accept this as an apology.

once again, thank you so very much. This is all very interesting to me, but ridiculously confusing to research....like trying to read Japanese.... One thing that confused me was why the number 487 would be stamped on the tang? Why would they have used english numbers? I'm afraid all of that information would have been lost when my grandfather died. I know the sword was taken from a dead body somewhere near Iwo Jima. Thanks again for all your help and information. I hope you all have a wonderful year.

Thank you again. Is this just a mass produced sword for WW2 or is there anyway marking to help locate the original family name?

Thank you for that much. I also forgot to mention that there is a 487 stamped on the bottom of the tang. Don't know if that helps or means anything.

Thanks in advance. The story goes that my grandfather picked this sword off a body in WW2 and marched with it for a few miles in his pant leg before he could ship it back to my grandmother. He had to carry it in his pants because if caught, the officers would take it from him and send it home themselves. He always wanted to try to find the family (if it was possible) and give it back to them. I learned of that upon his death and it was given to me. My research has given me more questions than answers. It does have the star stamp which is associated with Rikugun Jumei Tosho. Any help as to the maker or date would be great. I think it was probably a factory made sword, since they would be more common, but I could be wrong. Thanks again