Help IDing these Tsuba (tsubas?)?

[ryanvango]

Not a ton to go on especially for the second one. These are photos I took when I was visiting my dad. I was asking someone about the actual swords, and someone told me to get these looked at if at all possible. not sure if someone could give me an idea of how to find out more about them, or if there's a process for getting them authenticated. both of them are attached to swords that are at least 300 years old, with the more wire-y one having an ichimonji school gold inlay on the inside. sorry that's the best I got as I don't really know much about this art form. 

 

any help is greatly appreciated though!

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Ryan,

Not a lot we can tell you from a few pictures; a true appraisal needs to be in hand. Where in The States do you live? Maybe there will be someone knowledgeable and honest nearby who can help.

And pay no attention to anyone who sends a message asking if you'll sell the swords.

Grey

[Rawa]

4 minutes ago, Grey Doffin said:

Hi Ryan,

Not a lot we can tell you from a few pictures; a true appraisal needs to be in hand. Where in The States do you live? Maybe there will be someone knowledgeable and honest nearby who can help.

And pay no attention to anyone who sends a message asking if you'll sell the swords.

Grey

He joined in 2013

[Curran]

6 minutes ago, Rawa said:

He joined in 2013

 

Odd. 

The first tsuba is easy. I will let you guys handle it at your discretion.

If anything needs Moderated later, PM me as necessary. I'd like to save Brian a bit of NMB workload.

[Spartancrest]

Welcome Ryan.

 

Number one - tentatively [poor image]  Ko-kinko

- Two - obviously sukashi but not sure of the school.

It is "tsuba" for both single and multiple tsuba.

 

Interesting time warp back to 2013 - how do I get a ticket? 

[ryanvango]

bahaha I actually joined way back in 2013 because I was doing a bunch of research on them at the time. They're my dad's swords and we tried to get them looked at back then, but not a ton learned sadly. I just started thinking about them again recently, and someone mentioned getting the tsuba looked at because apparently there are collectors just of that, and its possible the furniture had been swapped out over the years. 

 

I appreciate the leads! I'll get to digging! thanks a lot!

[ryanvango]

does anyone have a resource for getting them authenticated or anything? I know some can have papers but I'm not 100% what that means or entails. 

 

I am in pennsylvania

[Brian]

No need to get them authenticated. They are real. No real benefit to getting papers imho.
1st one...yes ko-kinko I think. Right Curran?
Both tsuba appear to be legit and decent. Nothing too high end, but not low quality

[Curran]

On 1/14/2026 at 1:12 AM, Brian said:

No need to get them authenticated. They are real. No real benefit to getting papers imho.
1st one...yes ko-kinko I think. Right Curran?
Both tsuba appear to be legit and decent. Nothing too high end, but not low quality

 

Bingo.

It might be sanmai (3 layer construction) sandwiched by the fukurin (outer layer). I'm (*) the laymans terms for Ryan. 

I'd have to see inside the openings (central and the one for the kozuka opening) to determine.

Ko-kinko is  >  than a sanmai tsuba, but  -either way-  a better tsuba that most people find when they start collecting.

Ko = (old)   and   Kinko = (soft metalwork).  So it is an (old softmetal) tsuba of shakudo (type of special black pickled copper) with gold highlights. Condition looks decent.

 

The other iron one is hard to tell without taking it off the koshirae.

Most likely it is an Edo period katchushi (armor maker) piece. Larger but thin.  @ryanvango  is probably right that it is on the sword as part of the mix-n-match of WWII bringbacks.

There are even stories of guys using tsuba as poker chips. After the game, different tsuba ended up on different swords. Winner had more tsuba ? and the losers had a sword with no tsuba where they'd find a replacement later.

It is an old story, but it gives you a vibe of the mix n match we sometimes see.

 

There is the old story of the guy who brought a sword into the Tampa show.

Guy wanted to sell it. Benson told him he didn't want the sword (low grade, about $1000 then), but did want the tsuba.

Guy didn't want to separate them, so Benson bought the sword for (1k?), took off the tsuba and sold it for $5k within the hour. It would resell for $7k+ within a month or two.

Benson then gave away the sword rather than have to haul it back to Hawaii.

 

While a special case, sometimes the mix-n-match of WWII bringback koshirae pops up a few interesting one.

My own favorite ko-kinko tsuba came off a sword this way in the 2019 Tampa show. Not exactly worth $5k, but it was worth more than the Echizen shinto sword it was on.

[Curran]

@ryanvango     East or West PA?

My family is from the Cranberry-New Castle- Slippery Rock triangle.

 

If you are in Eastern PA, there are some knowledgeable people in NJ and there is the NY Metro Area Nihonto Club.

Daytrip to NYC for one of their meetings, and you will get some insight.

I miss Northern Jersey-NYC.   Pizza down here just isn't the same.

[ryanvango]

@Curran I'm down in pittsburgh haha. so neighbors. the sword is actually with my dad up near scranton. when we first tried getting them looked at I think we met with someone from the NY group, but outside of their regular meetings. it was 2 guys we met at I think a community college in new york. but they were mostly looking at the swords themselves. unfortunately weren't able to learn much outside of "yeah you'll need to spend a few grand to get them polished before anyone can say anything." 

 

Thank you so much for that detailed answer, though! I forgot how much fun it was to dig in to this stuff. And I swear every person I talk has something new and awesome to tell me. It's wild to think that just a PIECE of a sword can have more story baked in to it than almost anything us westerners are used to dealing with. 

 

I'll try to get better photos next time I'm back in that area. 

[Spartancrest]

3 hours ago, Curran said:

He didn't want the sword (low grade, about $1000 then), but did want the tsuba.

Happened to me years back, sword blade way out of polish [may have had one more polish left in it and some minor chips] but the tsuba was very fine nanako in iron with lined udenuki-ana. Stripped the tsuba off and sold the blade for the overall price I had paid. $800 from memory - I still love the tsuba. I guess my point is the same as Curren's - sometimes the fittings are superior to the blade and may never have been part of the "original" Koshirae.