Fake or Frankenstein?

[Thylacine]

Hi.

 

I am in the process of looking for a Type 95 Guntō to replace some that were stolen a few years back, however there are a lot a fakes on e-Bay and some have been easy for me to spot and others... I may have passed over an original sword or two in the process of avoiding a fake.

 

I saw this sword 290607775970 "WWII Japanese SAMURAI SHIN- GUNTO NCO SWORD NOT A COPY" and thought it was a fake but the bidding war has taken off. I still think it is a fake or more like a Frankenstein make up of a number of swords. So which is it?

 

To me the scabbard (to which someone has added a rising sun flag) is from the Tōkyō 'Kokura' arsenal as are the ferrule markings, but the Guard and spacers are iron, so it should not have a copper ferrule.

 

The swords serial number is low mid range and should not have an iron guard and I was wondering if it was low enough that it should have a copper hilt not aluminum?

 

Then there is the machining of the blood groove at the tip of the blade, it looks more like the rounded machining found on swords from China than on the swords I previously owned. Also the groove seems to run too far towards the tip but then again the sword may have had the tip ground down to remove damage,

 

So gentlemen, real, Frankenstein or fake.

 

E 　

[Bruno]

Just a guenine one.

 

See below link

 

http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_070.htm