Adventures in cheap swords and gimei

[Mikaveli]

So, I collect Shinto, Kanbun-era Mino swords - not generally the most expensive end of the market, but I wanted to share my experience.

 

In that segment (of the smiths I collect), every sword online I've seen online in the last 3 years, available for (or for auctions, starting at) less than £1000 has been gimei! Usually very obviously.

 

I read somewhere, maybe from Darcy, that a Kicho certificate was almost a guarantee of gimei. I've also found that to be the case. Every single one. It's as if the sellers know these swords wouldn't pass Hozen / TokuHo now, so they're sold for cheap (less than a modern-papered wakizashi) - topping out at prices between £2-2.5k.

* I'll caveat this that I've seen more expensive Kicho swords, that appeared genuine (but are outside my scope).

 

Wakizashi - I'd like to understand whether this holds for other smiths, but for an ubu, TokuHo companion sword - these often seem to be priced somewhere between 50 and 60% cheaper than an equivalent condition/workmanship/feature katana. Even when 59.9cm etc - bargain!

 

Katana - wide price ranges, with the hamon being the biggest cost factor from what I've seen. With "interesting" hamon swords from the same smith selling for considerably more than ubu, tighter jihada and generally better condition swords. A connoisseur's hamon can more than double the entry point.

 

For the modern NBTHK papers (post 82), I haven't found anything that would make me suspect gimei. I'm guessing fakes exist, but what price point do these usually target from?

 

Interested to hear other people's experience of what to look for or avoid etc. Feel free to share any anecdotes. 🙂

Edited October 14 by Mikaveli