TroyUT

Ok guys, I am going to return it. I know I’ve said it a hundred times but I cannot thank all of you enough for helping me out with this. I have learned more in the last day and a half of chatting with you guys than I ever knew before.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate everyone’s time and effort to help on this. Someone has suggested that I could get it into the hands of an expert and then a better determination could be made. Do you guys know of anyone in the US who is capable of this (and what the cost would be) or would they also just say the same things we have covered here? Because my dilemma now is that the seller on eBay has offered to take the sword back and refund my money, which sounds like a good option at this point although I feel kinda bad about returning it without being able to say it’s for sure a fake. I’m assuming that’s why it’s so important to examine items in person before you buy them or only buy from reputable dealers with these swords.

Interesting, so the Mei could be legit then? What about this on the Kabuto-Gane, in this book I'm reading (Military Swords of Japan by Richard Fuller and Ron Gregory) I thought it said that some of the fittings were brass but covered with a brown protective paint. I'm almost positive this "brass" coloring on here was painted on over the Kabuto-Gane to make it appear as though it had brass underneath.

You guys are great, thank you very much. I tell you what, I'm definitely learning a lot more about these swords now! Here is another picture of the Mei , I cleaned out some of the chalk or whatever it was that was in there but it's definitely not painted on.

Thanks Brad, you guys are amazing. I reached out to the seller on eBay and he said he’s totally willing to cancel the sale ( I paid $675 for it) if I want to. He seems to be a nice guy, he said he’s had it in his safe for years and bought it from a collector in New York. I told him I’m just waiting for a few more opinions. I really can’t thank you guys enough for helping me out on this.

Here's some with the Habaki off as well.

Here's some with the Habaki off as well.

Here are some better photos too. I know those first ones were not the best quality.

Thanks for the quick reply, I really appreciate it! Well now I’m going to contact the seller and eBay about getting my money back. I hope that goes well!

I’ve never posted here so I really appreciate any help you can give me on this. I recently purchased this sword on eBay and it was advertised by a seller with an excellent record of being an authentic WW2 Japanese sword. However when it arrived today I immediately became suspicious because the part underneath the wrappings on on the handle that is supposed to be ray skin looks like a plastic strip to me. Also I didn’t feel like markings on the tang looked engraved or stamped, they just seemed off. However I then started second guessing myself and thought maybe this is just what happens with age to one of these and the fact that I don’t know a whole lot about swords to begin with. So any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated.