Sword ID Help

[djforresta]

I am a pawn shop owner from Idaho and buy a lot of memorabilia from World War 2 and recently purchased two swords along with some knives and bayonets that were bringbacks from mainland Japan. the gentleman had pictures of his father holding the swords while in Japan in 1945 and so I know they are at least that old. I am NOT a sword collector but my father served in the Navy in World War 2 and I have collected some very nice rifles and a few other things and I have 4 boys and they have taken to collecting memorabilia as well, my oldest who is now 17 really loves swords and I would like to do a little research on these and find out what exactly I have, one I know is a stainless steel Navy officer sword but the other is a complete mystery and I've been told based on only a couple days research that it is a koto blade. I have no idea if it has any significance or any value of any kind but before why do anything with it I would like some help determining its age and possible value. Any help would be appreciated and I thank you in advance. I have some very good pictures posted on Facebook and I will try to link them here. my last attempt failed miserably so here we go.

[djforresta]

Pics?

[djforresta]

[djforresta]

[Ken-Hawaii]

I'm sure there are experts who will help with this.

 

Please be so kind as to sign each of your messages, per Brian's rules.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Ken

[John A Stuart]

All I can say confidently is that this is osuriage, chusugaba hamon and in old polish. The shape and jigane bring to mind late Muromachi possibly sue-Seki if not kazuuchimono. There is active rust pitting forming on the blade that needs attention. It may be a respectable sword in any case. John

[Surfson]

Hi DJ. I agree with John's comments. Since the tang has three holes in it, that usually means that it has been mounted on several different handles. In rare cases, two holes are used to mount a blade, but more commonly, each hole represents a different era for the sword and it may have been successively shortened and remounted. It looks like it is a decent sword and probably would go for around $1000, give or take, on ebay. There are potential "fatal flaws" that a blade like this can have that make it worthless however, and it is not possible to tell if it has any of these. It would be nice to see photos of the entire shape of the blade. John's conclusion about era that it was made is largely made on the basis of the shape of the mounts, assuming that the blade has the very same shape. If you provide a photo of the whole naked blade, it will be easier to set an age. Based on what is seen, it is probably around 400 years old or so. Cheers, Bob

[djforresta]

Here are some more photos and I will take more today now that I have some photo editing software.

Forrest

[djforresta]

Sorry still figuring this out - Forrest

[Brian]

Forrest,

You worked it out fine

Pics wider than 1200 pixels are converted to links...under that wodth and they display directly. But either way they are uploaded and there.

Going to be hard to find out more about this sword than has been given. It's an old shortened katana of some age, but of unknown quality. It has some grain openings that detract a bit, but otherwise looks ok. I would agree with the price estimates given so far. A nice and genuine old sword.

 

Brian

[djforresta]

okay I will take a couple pictures of the blade in its entirety once I get to work and measure the blade both the width and length and maybe that will give a better idea of the date,thank you everyone for your kindness and patience it will mean so much more to my son and to me if when I present this as a gift for Christmas and start him on his journey as a sword collector if I know a little bit about it, so thank you all again very much

Forrest

[djforresta]

Here is the naked blade, Forrest

[Brian]

Lack of machi (the notches where the habaki sits) means this one has had a LOT of polishes during its lifetime. So basically still what was suggested previously. A Koto that has had a lot of polishes, of unknown make. Era about 400 years old probably. Value around $1000 at a rough guess. It has some flaws, but is what it is. An old and genuine Nihonto.

 

Brian

[djforresta]

Any chance of maker marks under the rust? Should I treat the rust or just leave it be?

Forrest

[Gabriel L]

Any chance of maker marks under the rust? Should I treat the rust or just leave it be?

Forrest

 

Absolutely not. Nakago (tangs) are supposed to acquire this kind of dark patina over time and it's a critical component of assessing the age. Removing it will destroy the value.

 

A mei (signature) would still be visible except in the most egregious cases (when it was already extremely faint and then active red rust was allowed to mask it, or if it was removed, etc.). Sometimes light rubbing with choji oil will help reveal such a mei. But this is likely not the case for this sword; it appears to be osuriage, that is, shortened past the point where the original mei would have been (if it was ever there).

[djforresta]

just some measurements information measures three quarters of an inch at the end of the sword and 1 inch and a quarter at the widest point just below the tang and it is 36 and a half inches long

Forrest