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A Very Strange Police Sword


Tdognc

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So I just purchased a Type 19 Army Officer's sword as well as a very interesting police lieutenant's sword. The man I purchased it from told me his grandfather took both of them from the battlefield per grandpa (Grandpa was definitely lying as the officers sword isn't even service sharpened). He told me his grandfather used the smaller sword for weed whacking (which is why its been sanded a good bit). Long story short it looks like someone mounted a genuine wakizashi blade in a type 19 police hilt on a European style tang. I say authentic because I can see what looks like ware. It came with a traditional saya and the blade fits in it perfectly when the habaki is off, when it is on it wont fit. The hilt itself looks authentic although it's missing the locking mechanism (which would make sense if it had a wakizashi blade in a different scabbard.) post-4575-0-80737700-1575947580_thumb.jpgpost-4575-0-00969300-1575947521_thumb.jpgpost-4575-0-19154600-1575947531_thumb.jpgpost-4575-0-48366100-1575947540_thumb.jpgpost-4575-0-11145000-1575947553_thumb.jpgpost-4575-0-81996600-1575947562_thumb.jpgpost-4575-0-28992300-1575947571_thumb.jpg

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Taylor,

 

Dawson says your emblem is for Lt and Superintendant swords, and the backstrap shows it is for a Lt. You can see where the original nakago was before it was cut down for the police handle, so I agree the blade is a fighting blade, not for show. Interesting piece!

Very interesting, thank you! I have never heard of a nihonto being cut and fitted in such a manner. Do you think it's possible that the saya belongs to the sword even if the habaki doesn't fit?

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It's possible depending on the environment and storage that the saya has shrunken. I have personally never seen a kyu-gunto koshirae incorporating a traditional saya as carried since they were westernized at the time, but maybe someone can shed light.

 

Looks like a beefy blade! A shame about the nakago, but there are samples out there of every type that has been modified like that. A tanto with the end modified to allow a screw fitting of a Navy dirk. On FB, someome had posted a nice Koto/Shinto Kaga blade that was in Gunto mounts, but was mounted as Kyu-Gunto prior to that as the end of the nakago had half of it shaped like yours!

Even though it can be considered mutilation, it was neat to see something that went through three mounting iterations of the Japanese military forces from the 16rh century to 1945.

 

Even some of em can still pass shinsa. Guess it can be considered it a form of suriage and not too damning a flaw.

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I think this one is a Frankenstein sword.... nakago fitted to western style hilts are normally forged down and then tapped for a nut. This is a welded on tang, to a blade that may very well be a fake itself, and a saya dug out of the spares bin. That habaki never fitted that blade.....

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complete put togeather rubbish done by a clown about 10 years ago at the most.

 

nothing at all matches, so many points to list.

 

not worth $1

First off, I'm not trying to denigrate your argument in any way, and secondly you know way more than me about these sort of things. That being said, I've never seen a Type 14 with a screw on pommel, all of them that I have seen have been peened. I've only seen machine made police short swords (such as the one in the photo) with a screw on pommel.  It also looks like the tang on this sword has similar makers marks to the tang of that short sword (see photos). Also, the patina on the nut fits the reddish patina of the rest of the pommel as well. I'm not saying it's not a put together monstrosity but there looks to be enough ambiguity that it makes me more, and not less confused. What are your thoughts? Thanks.

 

post-4575-0-60519100-1576008344_thumb.jpg (The peened end of the type 19 that came with the other sword.)

 

post-4575-0-95409500-1576008360_thumb.jpg (Police short sword - can't say wakizashi as it's machine made)

 

post-4575-0-64518300-1576008350_thumb.jpg (The tang of a police short sword)

 

post-4575-0-49440000-1576008368_thumb.png (butt cap of pommel and nut with same patina)

 

post-4575-0-37259500-1576008380_thumb.jpg (The possible makers marks on the tang)

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