Conway S Posted April 28 Report Posted April 28 Posting this recent acquisition. It's dated Spring 1939 with katakana "ro" 口 233. It was hard to get a good picture of the mune due to it being a little rusty. Based on Bruce's Iroha chart, I believe this would be from the second series. Please correct me if that is incorrect. The sword has early features such as the center chuso release, thick pierced tsuba, copper rain pattern habaki, and hands clasped sarute. The tsuka also has metal shims for added durability. Conway 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 29 Author Report Posted April 29 Nice one, Conway! I bet it's heavy! As to it's place in the series, it's hard to say exactly. '39 was the year of overlap as they finished out the English lettering N-Z (we only have examples of N, O, V, and W) and began using IROHOA. All the Alpha/numerics for '39 were "Spring" and the IROHA started with Spring, so either they finished the Alpha/numberics before staring IROHA or they ran the two numbering system simultaneiously. 1939 -- -- -- -- -- N-423春 N-574春 N-597春 O-4春 -- V-18春 V-33春 W-23春 W-38春 W-82春 -- None春 I イ(イ) i い Ro ロ Ha ハ Alpha Numeric Missing Kanji 1939 I イ RO ロ HA ハ NI ニ HO ホ I 132-S I 169-S I 376-S I 466-S RO 69-S RO 75-S RO 233S RO 270S RO 381S RO 446S HA 24-A HA 35-A NI 53-A NI 57-A NI 190-A NI 375-A NI 422-A NI 539-A Ni 657-A NI 679-W Ni 733-A HO 113-W HO 122-W HO 123-W HO 125-W HO 168-W HO 171-W HO 213-W NoNmr-W 1 1 Quote
Kotetsu1959 Posted May 6 Report Posted May 6 Bruce, You have that B series in naval mounts that I sent pictures of. Does that fall in 1939 according to your research? Quote
Conway S Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 Ray, the chart shows that N-Z are 1939 series. Your sword is still 1938. Bruce mentions the B and C series being 1938 on Page 37 of this thread (April 8th). Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted May 7 Author Report Posted May 7 22 hours ago, Kotetsu1959 said: Bruce, You have that B series in naval mounts that I sent pictures of. Does that fall in 1939 according to your research? B25 - yes, it's a 1938, like Conway said. Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 Conway, does your sword have Iriyama Gata Nakagojiri? Quote
Conway S Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 John, For some reason, the pics I posted above do not display completely unless you double click to open them in another tab. I did not recognize this as a feature of the early Mantetsu until after I read your comment. 1 Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 This is the first Koa Isshin I can recall seeing with this type of Nakagojiri. Good find, the early Koa Isshin have something a little special about them one way or the other. 1 Quote
Conway S Posted May 8 Report Posted May 8 Here's a few pics of the blade with a comparison to a late war in rinji mounts. 39' on the bottom. 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted May 8 Author Report Posted May 8 I only have full photos of one 1937, and it has this same shape. Looks like the other '38s went to the rounded shape after this one. 1 Quote
Dogditcher Posted Sunday at 10:19 PM Report Posted Sunday at 10:19 PM Was Informed this was Spring of 42 Enjoy 1 Quote
Dogditcher Posted Sunday at 10:21 PM Report Posted Sunday at 10:21 PM Was Informed this was Spring of 43 Enjoy 1 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted yesterday at 04:28 PM Author Report Posted yesterday at 04:28 PM On 5/25/2025 at 4:21 PM, Dogditcher said: Spring of 43 Thanks for posting these, Steve! Any chance there is a small stamp above the Koa Isshin mei? Quote
Dogditcher Posted 2 hours ago Report Posted 2 hours ago On 5/27/2025 at 12:28 PM, Bruce Pennington said: Thanks for posting these, Steve! Any chance there is a small stamp above the Koa Isshin mei? Not that i can see 1 Quote
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