Alex A

Hi Derek, your sword? Joking. Being Ebay, perhaps a better title would be "possible bargain?"

Tutankhamun had a dagger from meteoritehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/01/tutankhamuns-blade-made-from-meteorite-study-reveals/ Clueless as to what the outcome of an art sword would be using a nickel iron meteorite, folk have used meteorite iron for weapons and tools etc in the past.

I was thinking what Dave said, fewer folds.

A lot of collectors must think this

Slightly biased, but Hizen Tadakuni Konuka hada with deep gunome-midare. Why, because I owned one and wish I still did, beautiful hada full of ji-nie and hamon like clouds.

Hi, not an exact science, but if you look at whats left of the sword, you know the era, look at the sori etc, might be able come up with a decent guestimate, Odachi might be tricky though, read some were massive This general guide to blade changes comes in handy sometimes http://www.yamakawadojo.com/the%20japanese%20sword%20historical%20changes%20in%20shape.pdf

As mentioned, a good sword will always be a good sword, signed or not signed, signature is a bonus. You might find parts of this thread interesting http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/9068-why-mumei/

Edit, me getting wires crossed, all is well Cheers for clarification Brian.

Where does this notion come from that there is becoming less interest in Japanese swords?, pretty sure Brians number of members increases by the year, am I wrong?. Lots of interest, just not lots of interest willing to pay a small fortune for a sword, for many reasons. Check out Ebay sales of swords around £450-£1300, business is bustling. I agree about shipping issues, bit of a concern. All English speaking collectors/enthusiasts read whats said here. If anything is going to put off new collectors, its talk of falling prices, shooting oneself in the foot. As a point on pricing, don't see any evidence of this on Aoi (as an example), prices have remained consistent. The only prices I see falling are the prices in the sales section here, think maybe its become expected. Have we become delusional on pricing in our NMB world I enjoyed what Peter had to say about collecting in the "good old days", wished id been there, all feels a bit "spoon fed" these days, with so much info available and papers on tap, so to speak, but I suppose it has its pluses

A few images from the book at the bottom of this thread, a great book that that can be difficult to get a hold of, Muromachi http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19524-fuchi-kashira-from-1550s/ I see Grey has one available at very reasonable price!

Plenty of swords out there Mike, bit of a learning curve, can be tricky buying online looking at photos, you need to be 100% sure of what you buy.

Pictures are bad, but nakago does not look too "old" to me, ww2 with some build up of rust would suit.

Oil hardened, I was sat on the fence thinking along the same lines.

Picture quality not good enough to make a decision (for me) Nakago shot/bare blade?. that's a must (for me) Dimensions? Sellers description? In the dark here Mike, don't buy in the dark. Best.

Hi John, maybe someone knows better than me, but I cant cant find enough info on the lesser known Moriie to come up with anything of use. Always got to be wary when buying from Ebay, as Jussi points out with the mei. A lot of swords on Ebay are the end result of someone knowing better (they know the sword is gimei/ wont pass shinsa/has not passed shinsa etc) Period, id say late Muromachi- Early Shinto.(best I can come up with) If you find anything out, be good to see.

Hi John, difficult from the pictures, could do with better photos and description of the blade details. Looks to be a Suguha hamon, theres a few Moriie towards the end of the Muromachi period who mainly use that style of hamon. I think your right about Ebay too, I would expect it to be one of the lesser known Moriie, maybe even Shinto (I think there is Shinto), you need to compare the work.

Ignoring the mei. Looking at the three mekugi-ana/sugata, reminded of a late Muromachi uchigatana, someone jazzing it up with a fake mei at one time maybe, dimensions/better pics would help. Sticking my neck out here as I cant really see the blade lol, but from what I can see, it looks ok. As long as you didn't break the bank to buy it then I guess its not the end of the world.

True, me thinking out loud, as usual. Was hoping some of the long term collectors may have a few tales to tell, or regrets, as you state. Maybe "regrets" was a more fitting title.

Anyone ever dismiss a sword (or tosogu) when you were less experienced, but then years later wish you could take a second look? Every so often I think about a katana I had in my possession for a brief moment, dismissed it, mainly because I became obsessed with owning a blade with hozen papers. Looking back though, may have been a very interesting blade indeed, signed Koto, nice Edo koshirae with a wonderful tsuba. I do wonder.

Some info here too http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/2099-kazu-uchi-mono/

As James states, judge a sword on its own merits, an interesting thread on this somewhere on the forum.

I like the story of Chobie Kiyomitsu (kaga smith) having a competition with Kotetsu (armourer). Kiyomitsu,s swords where known for cutting through helmets and it was Kiyomitsu that did the swinging in the test. (From one of Markus,s books)

If the sword has a cutting test with a testers name, but is found to be a fake, it will not pass Hozen. The better the blade, the more likely it was tested by one of the well known testers, such as Yamada etc Without a testers name, it may pass hozen, but doubt must remain as to authenticity, fake cutting test incriptions out there.

Good point Markus, often avoided banks and looked at sideboard for a speedy loan

Gary, everyone wants a BARGAIN, nail on head, too much talk of great deals and bargains, I'm beginning to think its having an effect on the market The only time I recouped all the money back on a sword from a dealer is when the dealer was offering it at a BARGAIN Sensible buys are the BARGAINS like you see in the sales section, likely to get your money back. If you buy from a dealer at "full" dealer price, then place an advert in the sales section a year later for the same price, your unlikely to see any comment such as BARGAIN, in which case it will hang around until you drop the price. When you drop the price someone might chime in with BARGAIN, and you might sell it, at a loss. (providing its not over $1800, that's when folk start to look for BARGAINS) As for buying "forever" swords, well, that's ok for a lot of people, but people like me get bored easily, and sell to move on. Sometimes I think if I had a Masamune or whatever, id probably have it a year before the novelty wears off. The majority of people in this game wont spend a lot on swords, there are those that will. Remember that those who can afford to buy fairly expensive swords can afford to take a loss, hence, probably not to bothered about a loss when the time comes.