KjetilK

The coin, if it's a genuine cast, is currency. It's a 100 mon piece, tempo tsuho, made about 1835-1870. It's not rare and may well be genuine. best, Kjetil

Thank you. That is probably also why some of these "plugs" have so nice decorations. Kjetil

Hello all. I'm just in the beginning face of collecting anything nihonto, and I have a tsuba-related question. Why is the kogai-ana and kozuka-ana of a tsuba sometimes filled/plugged with silver or gold? Is it purely decorative, or does it have some practical function?

Thank you, Ford. Then I learned something new today also!

Thank you. The book is on my shortlist (you cant't really have to many books ), and I will buy one as soon as I'm finished with the three I received yesterday. (The Craft of the Japanese Sword, The Samurai Sword and Cutting Edge. Japanese Swords in the British Museum). I like the sword, but I'm more a fan of dramatic waves , and that is one feature with my next sword. But it's good to know that I didn't to bad on this one. And maybe a nice original mei as well.

Patina developes as the surface of the metal reacts to the environment it's kept in. So, if you keep it in a drawer, in a box of the proper wood, or something like that, it will probably not develop any heavy patina over the years. But if you bury it with the flowers in the garden, it's bound to rust and develop patina. But that is of course not a way to treat a nice tsuba. I would just have kept it safe and in a proper box. It looks great and it's probably not advicable to enhance it's appearance with any easy and fast methods. I have seen a lot of coins ruined by cleaning and repatination. I guess it's the same for tsuba. best, Kjetil

Hello again. Thank you for all your answers. Yes, I like the sword, and no, I'm totally convinced that it is a gimei. I love to research things, I'm a historian so that is in my blood: But I'm not convinced the other way either. You have supplied me with good arguments for any possible conclusion. The mei looks very crisp in the pictures, and in hand, and that is a good indication that it engraved later. But when I examine the mei under high magnifiaction (20x) I notice that there is rust and corrosion also inside the strokes. The rust, patina, is consistent on the nakago, and inside the chisel marks. I guess it's possible to fake this with some sort of acid, but it dosn't look that way. I have meassured the blade to the best of my ability, and I hope I got the right words for it (writing this with The Samurai Sword by John M. Yumoto in one hand): Total lenght is 68.4 cm, from machi to kissaki its 54 cm. The sori is 1 cm. Motohaba (width at machi?) is 3 cm. Sakihaba (width at yokote) is 2.5 cm. The thickness is 0.55 cm at the machi and 0.45 at the yokote. I'm not sure how to observe the hamon and the grain, i.e. I don't know what is nie or nioi. The grain looks like masame hada (straight), and the hamon looks like suguha hotsure (stray straight), and it's placed high on the blade. I post some more pictures, they are not great, but they give an idea about the shape of the blade. (Quality is quite good, but the kissake is a little blunt, and there are a few places with old rust (spiderweb), but they are shallow.) Any comments?

Thank you, the link was very useful. My blade does not resemble linked blade of the 1st generation. The signature is not the same, on the 1st generation blade they are much more compact than on my blade. The last kanji for example. Also the temper line is quite different, on my blade it is a long line, and it is quite high on the blade. (I will try to take some pictures during the weekend and post them). I am not sure how much these features differ in blades made by the same smith, but I guess that each had their signature, so to speak, in the temper line also. In the Nihonto Knowledge Base there are seven generations of Nagamichi. Could the sword belong to any of the later ones? This exact signature is not in the base, and I guess that is a typical sign of a gimei. Well. I bought this blade before I came to my senses and contacted an expert. I papered blade is soon to be included in my collection. What I am going to do with this blade is uncertain. Keep it, sell it? Kjetil

I have collected coins and medals for many years and I know there are some ways to enhance metal objects with heat, oil, sulphur &c. You only need to google it, ask a silversmith (or even a blacksmith) or a chemistry teacher to learn something about it. But in my experience the best way to treat antiques is to let them develop their own patina over the years. Artificial patina is easy to spot and it does not look good compared to naturally developed patina. best, Kjetil

Hello everyone. I'm quite new here, and I hope I could get some help with a signed wakizashi. The pictures of the mei at the nakago is posted below, but the pictures of the rest of the sword is not very good, so I will not post them now. The nagasa is 54 cm and the sori is 1 cm. The mei reads Mutsu Daijo Nagamichi and I'm of course out to get any good opinions if this is a genuine mei or just a gimei. The patina is black, dark blue with some red. The file marks are almost corroded away. Thank you for your time - happy collecting. Best regards, Kjetil