Alex A

Aye, read that. Must have been easier peddling gimei blades back then than it is today

Its an age old debate, nothing really wrong either way. Horses for courses.

Its all well and good saying judge a sword by its own merits but in reality some folks can be real fussy when it comes to owing swords that are gimei and even mumei. Nothing better than a good blade which is signed by the smith, dated, the more information the better. Maybe you have not owned enough what i call ? blades, They drive me nuts. Want facts, provenance, etc, not opinions. lol

Understand why folks are saying leave the gimei mei and paper it as such Though, the fundamental issue is that they are dishonest blades. NBTHK or whoever could paper such a blade and describe it as such and such with a false mei to whatever. Then as time goes on its possible the papers get thrown away and the blade gets sold on to fool someone once again.

Some good points in this thread,

An Aoi Top Notcher, well done Jon. Remember seeing this sword and wondering if the hamon was a unique one off, as cant remember seeing another like that by 1st or 2nd Tadakuni

Bill T had one like that at a recent show, Yokoyama Sukenaga, signed and dated I could only see the good half and didn't know it was cut. Imagine my disappointment when he pulled it out of the display case Wartime bring back broken by MPs Still, what was there was very nice, choji, if i remember correctly.

I didn't know Shame, that was a great site, hopefully it will return.

Thanks John, not the same thing. I guess the site is down, hard to tell one way or another these days. Cheers

Another not working for me. Can someone please add a link to Shibuiswords.com, links are the only way i can get onto the site Im getting this on both my browsers This page isn't working at the moment www.shibuiswords.com redirected you too many times. Try deleting your cookies. ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS

Kanbun swords with little sori seldom fly off the shelf at top end prices.

Glad your seeing it hand, i struggle with the photography at this store in particular.

For those that send stuff to the UK and don't declare FULL value, some advice. Only happened once and now make sure it wont happen again. If customs decide to, on whatever basis. You will receive a printed letter stating that they want to see proof of payment matched to that on the declaration, sometimes sellers put a lower price on the declaration, if they don't receive proof by such and such a date, the item will be destroyed. Luckily for me, they adjusted the fee and the item was delivered. Think on, as they say.

Hi Colin, don't see any security issues with adding info i mention. Id rather do what i can, than see a £5000 sword or whatever stuck in customs for any longer than it needs to be. They have your address anyways and know the value on the package. Its all in the hands of the courier/customs. Ps, info in the box, not on the outside for everyone to read, Marked customs.

Customs have took an hard rap here over recent years but when you think about what they have to deal with, it must be a nightmare. They must come across hundreds of weapons every week, anything from a telescopic baton to a Roman Gladius back round to a ww2 Fairbairn sykes and fakes galore thrown in for good luck. In this day and age, i don't think its enough for the SERIOUS collector or Iaido (or whatever) practitioner to simply state their name on a package. I think its wise to state more about yourself and differentiate yourself from those that import weapons for dubious reasons. Perhaps stating the obvious here but often when i read posts about swords getting held and my own experiences, i cant help but feel that if more information was available to customs then hassles could have been avoided. For UK, date of birth i think is now essential as you have to be over 18. List in the package why you are importing the item, firms like UPS make you do this anyways when it comes to antique firearms. Be more pro-active. If you are serious about collecting or martial arts, join groups, societies, federations or whatever and state all this in the package. If you think will help, even list your job title!, do what you have to. Darcy covered swords brilliantly but times are changing https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/1860-importingexporting-and-customs-queries-and-advice/#comment-14557 Do not BS!!!!! or try to "wing it " with regarding the item, so to speak Anyways, just thought it may help folks, at the risk of repeating myself and boring folks to death that may already know this, last time i mention it, Anyone think of anything else, add it, as I've likely forgot.

Hi, my anti virus wont let me open your first link, but for ups Bladed products: It is forbidden to sell and deliver bladed products at a UK residential address without verifying that the recipients are over 18 years of age. Shipment should be made with the Adult Signature Required service available upon booking of the shipment with UPS. If sending a bladed product from outside of the UK into the UK, the Adult Signature Required service must be used regardless of whether the shipment will be delivered to a residential or business address. https://www.ups.com/...rohibited-items.page Anyways, as said, i don't list stuff as weapons, list as antique. Nowadays our service does not insure antiques. Going around in circles here, il just say never had a problem shipping a sword out of the UK. Only with customs coming into the country, usually because the sender has been inaccurate.

I have to do that to read Holts auction page, as the description is always off the bottom of the screen. Its like they make it intentionally difficult. Strange.

That's a bit confusing, as i know UPS ship antique guns and just had a sword delivered by DHL Maybe its a Belgian issue

Ok, then describe as Traditionally made Japanese cultural artwork If it is not more than 100 years old and it is an art sword, it is a "collectible item of historical/ethnographic interest." 9705.00.00.90 (Darcy's write up) Ps, Good to be member of stuff like Antique arms society Token society etc etc

Well, just don't write "weapon" on the package lol Just ask a sender to state "Antique Japanese artefact", which is what they are. Customs tariff no. whatever that is these days. Take it from there. etc etc

Just reading over this site https://finance.belg...nd-exporting-weapons "What are the exceptions to the licence requirement for the import or export of weapons? ‘Non-firearms', such as air rifles and side arms (knives and other cutting arms) are not subject to the licensing regime. This is even the case when the 2006 Arms Act does make it compulsory to obtain a licence for possession and use within Belgium. Some side arms are classified under the category of prohibited weapons. As is the case for all other prohibited weapons, the Regions do not issue licences for this category. Only a limited number of exceptions provided for in the Arms Act 2006 allow the import of prohibited weapons under licence. Traffic within the Benelux does not require a licence either," PS. quickly reading over your link above, cant see anything written other than "weapons" and "guns" Its very vague. Surely they cant be turning antique collectors into criminals, that's ridiculously stupid

Looking at your blade, the Kanji appears unusually large Saying that though, i used to own an Hizen blade where the Kanji was unusually large, as noticed by an Hizen expert and i agreed. Still, had NBTHK Hozen.

For a first blade its ok. Wouldn't be surprised if turned out to be something from the likes of Fujishima. A gimei blade is just a mumei blade wanting to be loved, lol

Old thread, i know. Though looking at the original post. Looks antique to me, simple solid construction Personally, think maybe its just a small rudimentary signal cannon.

Just to add, make sure you have not missed any exceptions for antiques in that legislation, sometimes you find it written elsewhere.