A strange mei - help translate?

[acoyauh]

Hello, forumers

I got this tachi in my shop for cleanup, and I am very curious about the mei - with my very limited Japanese capabilities, this does not seem like a name. Maybe a 'revival' sword from the 1700's? Please your thoughts on this.

The mei is difficult to read from any photos I took, so I copied the kanji for you as best as I could. My best guess would be 元文正土へ立  which either I don't understand, or is not a normal mei - seems odd...

[Ray Singer]

Appears to be a Chinese fake.

 

http://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

[TETSUGENDO]

Seguro!

 

-S-

[acoyauh]

Thank you, Ray & Steve! It's not me then =P

I considered the possibility, not just from the mei. The tachi is nicely built, but the hada is suspicious, very much like the 'damascus' swords sold in China, the grain too bold to be Japanese...

 

Thank you for your time and knowledge, guys!

[tbonesullivan]

Someone brought a katana to me yesterday, and it had a mei, but it was all wrong, the tang was wrong, and of course the "damascus" blade told me all I needed to know before I even looked at the tang.

 

Thankfully there is so much about Japanese swords that simply cannot be faked.