fr0stblade Posted January 29, 2019 Report Posted January 29, 2019 The following 3 sword are on a 2nd hand seller with no set price/free offers. I would like some verification on the authenticity and age that the seller claims. (The images are not of the best quality, some details may not be clear) Sword 1: https://imgur.com/a/2b5Rfht ca. 1550 Muromachi periode Sword 2: https://imgur.com/a/ETKmrh9 ca. 1400 Signature: kanetsune gaku-mei Sword 3: https://imgur.com/a/IMzC4w6 ca. 1500/1550 Signature: Moritaka chikuzen kongobyoe moritaka school What would be a good offer on each sword? Thanks in advance, Stephan Quote
Grey Doffin Posted January 30, 2019 Report Posted January 30, 2019 Hi Stephan, All 3 are authentic Nihonto and could be (could also be something else) what the seller states, and there could be problems that aren't apparent from the pictures. The pix provide too little information. Why not buy from a trusted dealer who gives thorough descriptions and who will stand behind his merchandise? Grey 2 Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted January 30, 2019 Report Posted January 30, 2019 Stephan, are you really ready to buy any Japanese sword? Have you learned enough to be able to tell whether those blades are what they are claimed to be? Have you invested in a few books, & spent the time studying them? It's nice to see you on the forum, but asking this type of question probably isn't going to get you definitive answers. Quote
Marius Posted January 30, 2019 Report Posted January 30, 2019 Stephan, Ken's advice is worth gold Welkom bij de forum! Je kunt hier altijd waardevolle informatie krijgen, maar je moet het ook gebruiken kunnen 2 Quote
fr0stblade Posted January 30, 2019 Author Report Posted January 30, 2019 Thanks for the replies. I have always been interested in Japanese history and folklore, so I got excited to see these pop up on our country ebay-ish site. I dont really know how to indentify and important things to look out for,I did some research on it and got a little overwhelmed with all the different terms. Are there any books or sites that you could recommend me? I would never buy one of these pieces of history and neglect it though so i would do proper research. It might also take a while before i am able to purchase one as my spending budged is slightly limited atm ( will change this year most likely ) Quote
Marius Posted January 30, 2019 Report Posted January 30, 2019 Start with a few websites: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/information.html Loads of knowledge from a Japanese sword smith and sword connoisseur Hirsohi Kojima (4th Naohiro) http://www.sho-shin.com Not easy to navigate, but a good resource on the 8 roads (a system much older than the gokaden) and sword schools. Search our forum for anything that you want to research - great posts here and also some good articles: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/17-articles/ As for books, let me start with a great shop run by Grey Doffin, our long time member and one of the nicest and most helpful guys around http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com Grey will get you any book, even if he hasn't it in stock. I will restrict my short list to sword books: Facts & Fundamentals of Japanese Swords by Nobuo Nakahara Take the statements with a grain of salt. Nakahara is a contrarian, which makes for a fun reading but some of his statements seem unfounded. As a resource when studying swords in hand: The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords by Kokan Nagayama Get Markus Sesko's books on Lulu.com: https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=Markus+sesko&type= You cannot live without his Index and I recommend his Koto-kantei Zenshu and Shinto & Shinshinto-kantei Zenshu. Excellent to study great swords. Two large positions for serious studying of traditions and schools: Yamanaka Newsletters ( the reformatted version): http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b550-nihonto-newsletter-yamanaka Nihonto Koza translated by Harry Afu Watson's (Grey will find you a set, I am sure) That should be enough for a while Others here will have more excellent recommendations, I am sure Have fun! 1 Quote
Blazeaglory Posted January 30, 2019 Report Posted January 30, 2019 Ask the seller what he wants. Get a price and better pics Quote
Surfson Posted January 30, 2019 Report Posted January 30, 2019 Agreed - how much are they? At certain prices, all posters would say grab them. At other prices, they would all say don't touch them. They all look to me on quick inspection to be authentic collector grade samurai swords that would be excellent for a new collector and, if bought at good prices, ones that will always have a market. Quote
fr0stblade Posted January 30, 2019 Author Report Posted January 30, 2019 Just received an mail back, price for all 3 together 3750 Quote
16k Posted January 30, 2019 Report Posted January 30, 2019 Pictures make it hard to judge but that price, if there aren’t hidden defects, sounds reasonable, but the experts here will give you better advice than me. Quote
Surfson Posted January 30, 2019 Report Posted January 30, 2019 Hi Stephan. Hard to say without being able to judge the state of polish on any of them, though the attributions seem likely to be right. However, can we assume there are no papers? On ebay, these swords would likely fetch about $3750, or so (maybe about $800-1000 each for the wakizashis, and about $2000 for the katana). But I suspect that the number you have quoted is in Euros, correct? I would say that the prices are in the range of fair market value, and certainly no super bargains. If you like them, you could always offer him less and maybe get into them right. 1 Quote
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