WW2 signed katana + photo

[Delta]

Greetings honored members.

 

This is my first post in this most excellent forum. I have for a longer time thought about acquiring an original Japanese sword. I have always been a sucker for WW2 memorobilia and an imperial Japanese officers sword would be the peak of what I had in mind.

 

In an auction I found this Katana. I have been told the blacksmith is Nagamura Kiyonobu who is listed in Slough's book "Modern Japanese Swordsmiths 1868-1945", page 85. What is rather unusual is that the Katana comes with a photo of the officer holding the sword when he reportedly was stationed in Burma during WW2. Also there seem to be a tang stamp near the habaki but the picture is pretty vague.

 

Earlier this site has warned about swords coming from this auction house as "put together". E.g. see this thread:

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopi ... =1&t=19793

Therefore before I proceed I would humbly like to request to hear your honored opinions on the matter. Is the sword authentic and if so what should a realistic price be for a signed WW2 Katana with photo of original owner?

 

Any input on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

 

Best regards Simon

 

[Delta]

I just realised that some pictures of the entire sword could be helpful :D

 

[Mark]

sword looks ok. I would figure value like an average gunto katana, in may area maybe $600-900 but that can vary depends where you live. I would discount t he photo, I would not pay much extra for it as all army swords like this look similar, that picture is not that clear so there is no way, In my opinion, to prove the auction sword is the one in the picture

[Brian]

Not sure if that is a Seki stamp, in which case it would be a Showato. But if not, that hamon looks very wild and interesting. I would love to see that in polish.

 

Brian

[bobtail44]

The sword by itself with the damage/wear shown id say would go for about 500-600 dollars at a stretch. It also doesn't look traditionally made from the photos. Having the photo of a guy with a sword doesn't mean much unless there is concrete proof tying the sword to the owner in the photo. Even then, unless he is someone special or of rank.....

It costs upwards of $75 dollars an inch to get a sword polished properly and you would never consider that for a sword like this unless it had sentimental value as it isn't commercially viable.

 

There are much better shin gunto swords out there for around $1100 dollars that are in much better condition. Id say skip this one and look around ebay. It might be a shark tank but you can always get your money back through paypal and there are some very good sellers on there.

 

Just a few examples: No guarantee on any of them but might be worth a look.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-Japanese-O ... 4625d01fe8

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MANTETSU-WWII-J ... 3393f9bb6a

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NO-RESERVE-Worl ... 2a41f5d094

 

That was just a 1 min search, there are loads of them on there every week. Don't get too hung up on a single auction, sometimes people go stupid with there bids or its just shill bidding.

 

 

 

Trent S

[David Flynn]

Looks like it may be a Tan stamp.

[Stephen]

it is a tan stamp, it was in the links to the auctions in other thread, Amahidi

that i posted.

http://www.lauritz.com/en/auction/signe ... /i3471184/

[loiner1965]

Ask George trotter as I am certain he posted or replied to a post about this same smith and tan stamp

Edit......viewtopic.php?f=50&t=7602

[AndyMcK]

Also if you are interested you can pm me for one stamples Amahide with mei reading: "Noshu Seki Ichimonji Minamoto Amahide Kitae Kore" I am willing to part from it to continue my endeavours.

 

Antti