Confirm Yamashiro Kaneiye mei?

[Mark S.]

Picked up a tsuba at Chicago Show.  It is a ‘project tsuba’ that has a bit of rust and some thin patina.   Needs some fussing to make (hopefully) nicer.  It was just something to work on that was rather inexpensive.
 

Can someone confirm that I have the mei translation correct?  I also found reference to the “Kuni” character also being “Koku” in regard to this mei.  Can someone help me iron out which is correct?  I tried my best...

[Mark S.]

A couple full tsuba pics

[SteveM]

Yes, your reading is correct.

 

国（or 國 in the old/unabbreviated style) can be read as both kuni or koku depending on context.

Usually its read "koku" when it is part of a compound word, and "kuni" when it is a stand-alone word.

 

In this kind of mei, it acts as a stand alone word, appended onto the province name, which in this case is Yamashiro-no-kuni (the country of Yamashiro). The "no" is abbreviated in the mei, but is understood from the context. 

[Mark S.]

Thank you so much Steve.  Your detailed help is always appreciated.