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Ok. Get ready for fees. Small annoying fees. Winning fee Local delivery fee Banking fee And the postage and taxes. But the selection of items both quality and price is 1000 times better. Firstly you must have money in your jauce account to bid. When you win the item is posted to jauce, they pack it and send it to you. There packaging is the best. Double padded in sturdy boxes all send via Japan post tracked an fully insured. Proof of id at pick up. All this can extend the time from buy to getting it in your hot little hands. If your tsuba knowledge is good you will find gems at good prices. If you want to buy drink coaster tsuba like the crude things afew posts above that you couldnt attribute to a school or smith or learn anything from. Then ebay is the easier option.

There are several misunderstandings. 1. Aoi Art says that early spring 1934 is the date when Kanzan wrote the sayagaki. 2. The correct date when the sayagaki was written is early spring in 1968. This is Aoi Art’s mistake.

I think this is the very heart of the "problem". Investing more money on fewer items is no guarantee that the items are in fact "better" - How does paying more increase the quality? It should be the case but often it is not. Which one of these is selling for US $32,775.00 and the other for US $422.06 ? - Now tell me why buying the more expensive one gets me value for money?

Just buy good quality tsuba (fittings etc) from trusted sources, ideally papered so you know as well as you can that you’re getting what you pay for. If you want to go treasure hunting, go ahead, but expect the dross to far outweigh the quality. This can has been kicked down the road ad nauseam. There’s a simple answer to this conundrum and that’s to not be drawn into speculating on stuff on dodgy websites where the sellers hold the big cards.

Dear Uwe, thank you so much for the images! It is as though we were there ;).

Yes, KANEIE style, not school, I think. Late EDO might also be correct.

Just thought i would add to this thread, for beginners and costs. In my humble experience of tsuba, would say $80 is a rock bottom price. So lets say you buy 150 x $80 tsuba, thats $12000. (if your lucky on something half decent) That's no small amount of money for folks with a small budget. Horses for courses, up to folks what they spend their money on, just making a point.

Fair enough, but that’s an extreme example! For the sake of the exercise, I like the one on top more (but I’d never pay 32k!) I guess my point was, that in my experience, I see far nicer items in the $200-$500 dollar range than I do in the sub $150 range. And if you have some knowledge, dealing in that price range, (especially with trusted dealers), would likely yield more a more quality collection. Like Dan said though, more risk, and I get that. -Sam

Thought this might fit nicely into this post. Jason

As this thread was meant for newer collectors, I have one piece of advice on any auction site. If you are unsure whether a piece is legit or not, take a look at what else that seller has to offer. If they have one questionable tsuba, but then have another ten that are clearly cast or reproductions, I suggest passing on the one in question. I feel auction sites are a better learning tool than many people realize, as long as you are just window shopping. My other piece of advice is to then go to a website like Ginza Seiyudo and study their pieces so one can start to understand the difference in quality. I believe this has saved me from mistakes, especially when I first started poking after getting my collection and wanting to buy more right away. Jason

I think going wide is just as viable as going quality, in my opinion there is no correct way in collecting and enjoying the hobby. I can very well understand Dan. As to certain point I would be going similar way if I had funds. In my personal collection I would much rather have 10 middle tier swords than 1 high quality sword in comparison. To me that would be much more enjoyable. I have a friend here in Finland who has 100+ tsuba along with very massive collection of all things Samurai. I always enjoy greatly viewing so large number of tsuba with huge variation in styles and quality as well. I know not everyone would like that but I try to enjoy items of all levels.

The inscription is Yamano Kanjuro, but you are right in that the kaō does indeed look exactly like Nagahisa's kaō. I'll assume that the NBTHK didn't find anything suspicious in the cutting test mei (otherwise they might have made the subtle notation "to saidan mei ga aru" (i.e. "there is a cutting test inscription which says....."). This is their way of distancing themselves from any validation on the cutting test inscription. In other words, they use that phrase when they want to say "the sword is from so-and-so, and by the way there is also a cutting test inscription, but we make no claim about the validity of the cutting test inscription". But yes, an interesting observation.

Kaneie school, ca. 1800?

Me either! Sorry but the one with the timber background was the most expensive. [and from ebay!] Coming down to more realistic prices - [neither are from ebay ] one selling for USD $300 the other USD $55.19 In this case the one with the "heavy" Tagane-ato gets my vote and is the less expensive. I guess dealers have to make a profit but their turnover would be better if the profit percentage was say 100% rather than close to 500% like this last example! [OK 445.45% to be exact for the **** -retentive] Don't you just hate that! There are way too many of these "buy in bulk lots" where you only want the ONE good piece and you end up with a drawer full of junk and have to pay more for shipping that said junk around the planet! I have messaged many dealers asking for the price of "the one" but never get a good result - they are too anxious to clean out their own desk drawer!

I have found a few tsuba bargains on ebay but in recent years they have been much rarer. One nice tsuba among a bunch of junk tsuba one seller was offering last year turned out great. It is still possible but its not something I would encourage beginners to do because the time spent searching for a deal makes it a false economy...and you have to know what youre looking at.

Thanks Dan, and fair enough. To each their own. I've been collecting for a similar amount of time. When I started, I had similar aspirations to collect more, but as I've learned and acquired items of varying quality, I now want less (but nicer) items. It's interesting to hear other peoples perspectives and collecting motivations. I generally agree, that I'd rather have 5 great swords over 1 supreme sword. I find enjoyment in variety, and I imagine I'd get bored with a tiny collection. To careen this back on track. If you must buy on eBay, here's some advice that I recommend: 1. Like Spartancrest said above, always check shipping price! I've seen items listed for $10 with $500 shipping attached, in hopes someone won't notice. 2. Always check seller history and feedback. If a seller has no history, or bad feedback. Take that into account and proceed with caution. 3. Always check seller location and shipping details before purchase. I've seen sellers with "pickup only". Or sellers shipping from antarctica. Beware! 4. Find sellers you like and trust, or are recommended, and prioritize them. 5. Understand the inherent risks of buying on the internet. Happy hunting. -Sam

An interesting comment in the Varshavsky collection reference from Dale. Provenance: Robert E. Haynes, Mark Weisman. This is what shibuiswords.com says about this tsuba: Just for context, Robert (Bob) Haynes is one of the foremost Japanese sword fittings authorities in the US, having studied with Dr. Kazutaro Torigoye in Japan in the 1960's. There is a lot of useful tsuba material by Bob on the Shibui Swords site, Elliott and Bob collaborate a lot since they live near each other.

No offense Dan, but your pride in your 150 tsuba in conjunction with your explanation that you can't afford nicer ones, really doesn't make any sense to me. Take the money you've invested in 150 eBay tsuba. Would you not have more enjoyment investing the same amount of money in say, 50 tsuba? Would the quality not increase a lot? Is there a benefit or satisfaction to having 150 low-end tsuba versus 50 nicer ones? Or even, 25? Just trying to understand the 'why'. Cheers, -Sam

For sale Futatokoro set by Yoshioka school with Omodaka Mon design 1.600 EUR + postage + PP fee Shipped from Slovakia

I was just checking some historical items in Japanese books and there are possibly few daishō that are slightly pre-1600 as they can be traced back to specific owner. However they had the blades the person had historically and not matching pair of blades. Also the pair of tachi & short sword is referred in books as ryō-goshi (両腰). The actual surviving historical examples of these are ultimately rare. I think in the few koshirae books I have there is only 1 with proven ownership. Now bit tongue in cheeck but still factual at the same time. Unfortunately I don't yet own all of the Jūyō books but so far this is the only item anywhere I have seen with this setup after they re-sent this for Jūyō as the package. There are some papered Jūyō daishō that have attachment daishō koshirae. However this was originally from Jūyō 16 as daishō with attachment koshirae but re-evaluation at Jūyō 47 now has daishō & daishō koshirae on the same paper. An unicorn to chase...

Alex, it is a naturally preserved oak wood, and can be even much older! Hunting knife with bog oak handle:

That´s all, folks!

Just a quick update: I´m working on it. In the meantime: Ko-Bizen Kageyasu. Signed, one hole, ubu.

Hi, Everyone, I attended DTI and bought one, 長船倫光　（Osafune Tomomitsu, Mumei He was a student of Osafune Kagemitsu. Around Enbun・Jyoji era（1356－1367） This is O-suriage which is fine for me since my arm is short, otherwise I can not open the sword by myself. This was the one displayed inside the glass case of the Sokendo booth. The Kissaki needed a little polish, so I left it for the polish. The person who took this photo stood at the lower end, therefore, the entire shape is distorted. On the Keicho-do thread, I posted the photos of the Yakata-bune party hosted by Mr. Robert Hughes. It was great fun. Thank you, Mr. Robert Hughes. I have more photos, but it does not allow me to attach. The kissaki is between the chu-gissaki and o-gissaki.

Thanks for sharing the video, Peter. I enjoyed watching it.

Looks like a WW1 German shell. Dicke Bertha howitzer shell. https://www.kaisersbunker.com/cc/cc16.htm

Getting back to one of my PET HATE fake tsuba - https://www.jauce.com/auction/x1162738657 - not on ebay? ¥46,000 for a colour copy. These things are very well made and in isolation they are likely to fool a great number of people - but when you have seen two or three hundred of the darn things you can't but feel sorry for the people who have bought them.

Hi Peter, It could be Kaneie but if it is, it is late - seems like too much inlay and in various colours. Kaneie was more known for a sparing amount of gold inlay - less was more, at least in the early works. Gimei usually have a signature - it was the selling point even when it was obviously not true. No signature would suggest to me it is not trying to be a Kaneie but might be following similar designs. Shoami? [Yes I know a bit of a "catch-all"] Minimal inlay - prominent signature. Signed Fushimi ju kaneie, circa 1650-1750. Someone with more knowledge will point us in the right direction.

Hi, TOSHO ~1600? 78x77x3mm - 375$ + shipment. Paypal or bank-wire transfer.

Please use relevant sections of the sword sale template to include more details about your tsubas and avoid answering the same questions from multiple potential buyers. Details such as dimensions, age/era and mei would be very welcome.

Check out Kayro Dumadi's FB and other sites for ray skins with scute patterns that may match your "embellishments".

David, Testing the Sambar/horn TSUBA is easy: Heat up a needle in a gas-flame and touch the material. Usually, horn will melt, bone/antler (consisting mainly of Calcium phosphate) won't. Sambar is not as white as other antler material, especially when it's old, so my guess went for that.

I wasn't sure because I thought naval ships used case-less ammo and I couldn't think of an artillery piece that would fire something that big. The largest howitzer shell we used was a 240mm, which I think is smaller than that can. John C.

Hello Jason (and also Sam since I saw his recent post on this thread). I started this thread to try and help new collectors negotiate the labyrinth of tsuba that are on eBay and maybe give them some useful tips. And I do love my pieces, so I will keep doing what I have done for the past about 6 years. My philosophy is “never change a winning game, always change a losing game”. I feel that I have been winning in the way I acquire my pieces from eBay. I have tried Jauce (and have acquired one piece from them). But it was not a bid (like I stated before, bidding is not for me!), it was a buy it now. I found out that with putting a required amount of money in Jauce before you can purchase, and with all the added fees attached and then the shipping; it just about equals what I could have bought the same tsuba for on eBay (especially if I communicated with the seller and was successful in negotiating a lower price with him for the piece). Not only that, but the eBay pieces arrived in a timelier manner than the Jauce piece. As I stated somewhere else on this forum (darn it, can’t remember the thread!) I am not interested in selling my tsuba. I don’t purchase them to turn them around and make a profit (as I am sure many other collectors do). I buy them, learn from them, give the lower quality tsuba a good home (until I pass and move on, as my collection will also move on!), and enjoy them by hanging them on several walls of the house and viewing them every day! Also, I know that I have been fortunate enough to purchase quite a few quality pieces on eBay for under $150. I know that because I have a very knowledgeable friend that studies tsuba and I have shown some of my tsuba to him and he has stated that I got a great deal for the price that I paid! So, deals can still be had on eBay. You just have to learn to discern and know what you are looking at (and you can always contact the seller and ask questions about the piece). And yes, (and I also know I stated this on another thread-but again old age has made me forget where; I have to blame something!) I have been bit once or twice on my eBay purchases because of misleading seller pictures or other information. But when I get bit, I don’t lose much money compared to someone else that has deep pockets and spends a lot more for a tsuba. And when I have gotten bit, I have spent less than what many known and stated as such reproduction tsuba cost. So, not a big loss and they still end up on my walls! We all collect in different ways and for different reasons. I personally enjoy the challenge of finding a nice old, showing signs of possibly being mounted on a blade, possibly rusted (more than likely!) tsuba on eBay for about $150 (sometimes a little more, sometimes less). Hey, that is just me! Onward!

And there were quite a few Tadatsunas with fantastic horimono.

No need to overthink this one. The inscription is clearly 刕 (and not 劦 as English text in the inserted photo seems to suggest). 江刕住宗典製　　Gōshū Sōten-sei (Made by Sōten of Gōshū). 　(Moriyama-san beat me to it). The paper from Shibata (dated Feb 1979) says the same thing, and adds that is is from the "Mid Edo Era". I'd say this was more of a "shop signature" rather than the signature of a specific person, which is typical for Sōten pieces.

I would think it was the National treasure ōdachi by Tomomitsu. After seeing it several times in the museum it is probably my favorite sword as it is just amazing item. However there are other incredible ōdachi that I have seen and picking favorites is bit difficult.

刕 is the correct kanji for “shu”, which is a variant character of 州 (shu). 劦 (kyo) is a different kanji, but it is sometimes misused as 刕. BTW, 江州(刕) reads Goshu.

Dai Token Ichi catalog for sale, $50 per copy.

here’s mine

Glad to hear you're still kicking like a Marine Stephen. Agree, new blood is important and some quality new guys. This hobby is a strange one. Some old guys that I thought would collect forever faded out of the hobby, and moved onto other things. Some left social media completely (Can't say I blame them) And then we have natural attrition. And the fact that the average age in this field is so far above most other hobbies. We need the new guys. But with such a learning curve, few can put in the effort it takes to even get to novice status. After 20+ years, I still feel like a beginner. That's why events like the DTI and shows and social meet-ups are vital. And for those not aware, this guy @Stephen has been one of the most consistent supporters of this forum since the beginning. We owe him a lot.

It was a great show. I was able to work with Mike Y and find a wonderful first addition to my collection! There were swords ranging from $1000 to well over $500k for a few JuBi examples I saw. Every sword I inspected was in a perfect or very near perfect polish. This was a great time to really see excellent examples of some top smiths. Every dealer was incredibly willing to show swords well out of my budget. I didn’t go asking after the TJ or JuBi swords, but I handled many Juyo swords that were $50k+ including some amazing Rai and Norishige blades among others. Reading kanji names as Adam mentioned above was crucial. I don’t know all of the kanji names and provinces but knowing a little goes a very long way. Same goes with the paper levels and eras (Kamakura, Edo, etc.) The catalog swords were all over the price spectrum. I expected some of the catalog swords I was interested to all be out of my budget but surprisingly 2 of them were right at my budget level. One small thing, many of the Japanese only dealers have prices listed in JPY using man (10,000yen multiples) just something small to know. It was a wonderful show and I wished I could’ve spent the full 2 days there and taken advantage of the English events before and afterwards. I heard there were some excellent English sword study groups on Monday with top smith blades that I would’ve loved to attend but the wife was already gracious enough to spend 5 hours with me on Saturday!

Hi Bruce., I don't think the kana on the top edge of the nakago are four strokes: 六 They look more like three strokes: 大 That could be read as "Grade 1" Discuss......