WWII Guntō for sale

[Ragnvaldur]

Came upon a WWII gunto, moderate condition, turned out to be a steal. Decided I’d rather sell it to someone who appreciates the historical value enough to keep it in the state that it’s in. If it nobody rescues it, it’ll probably become my restoration project.

 

It’s missing almost all of the saya accoutrements, handle was re-wrapped shabbily. 
For some reason, it has no mekugi pin, no mekugi pin holes in the handle either. My guess; the reason for this is because it was never fully finished before Japan’s unconditional surrender.
 

Hiromitsu, sho stamp. Dated May of the 20th year of the Showa 1945.

 

$1,100

 

If you want to send me an offer, send it to:

gabrielcturner@gmail.com

[Bruce Pennington]

Gabriel,

Could I get a photo of the showa stamp for my survey files?  A 1945 Showa stamp is pretty rare.  Richard Fuller cites 2 in his survey, but I've yet to see one with my own eyes!

BTW, the fittings are Rinji Seishiki style, or Contingency Model.  Designed in 1938 as a more affordable gunto than the standard Type 98, but had design changes to make the fittings more durable out in the field.  They became quite popular with officers in 1943-1945.

 

Thanks, and good luck with the sale.

[Ragnvaldur]

2 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Gabriel,

Could I get a photo of the showa stamp for my survey files?  A 1945 Showa stamp is pretty rare.  Richard Fuller cites 2 in his survey, but I've yet to see one with my own eyes!

BTW, the fittings are Rinji Seishiki style, or Contingency Model.  Designed in 1938 as a more affordable gunto than the standard Type 98, but had design changes to make the fittings more durable out in the field.  They became quite popular with officers in 1943-1945.

 

Thanks, and good luck with the sale.

 

Bruce,
I appreciate your info. As much as I like them, I am not an expert on Japanese swords specifically. You know far more than I, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is ye olde Showa stamp:

[Mister Gunto]

Interesting. Not sure if that's a lightly stamped Showa, or a subcontractor's mark. Never seen a Showa stamp on the back edge of the nagako. It's usually on the side. 

 

[Ragnvaldur]

26 minutes ago, Mister Gunto said:

Interesting. Not sure if that's a lightly stamped Showa, or a subcontractor's mark. Never seen a Showa stamp on the back edge of the nagako. It's usually on the side. 

 

Honestly, I can’t say for certain. Though I did see a very small stamp on the tsuba which I assumed was the subcontractors mark, but now I see it’s the same as on the back edge of the nagako. There is also a very small mark on the side of the nagako that before just looked like a speck of rust. See for yourself, tell me what you think:

[Bruce Pennington]

Thanks for the pictures, that is the Gifu stamp. 
 

[Ragnvaldur]

52 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Thanks for the pictures, that is the Gifu stamp. 
 

Mia culpa, so it is. Thanks for the education. What can you say about the small mark on the nagako?

[vajo]

It looks like a Seki Stamp for me.

[Bruce Pennington]

It's a Gifu too, see the 3 fingers:

 

[Bruce Pennington]

15 minutes ago, vajo said:

It looks like a Seki Stamp for me.

Now this one on the edge does look like a Seki:

 

[vajo]

No Bruce this one i meant.

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Good eye Chris!

 

So this is one with both Seki and Gifu stamps.  The Gifu in Sakura is BELIEVED to be the Seki Swordmakers Guild.  The small Seki was used by the Nagoya Arsenal Seki branch.