Alex A

Cheers Jean, never seen it done that way before.

Can someone please confirm "tsugu", this ones new to me, unusual shaped nakago and Maru-ish type mune. Neatly chiselled mei, cant see a "tadatsugu" being a gimei, obscure smith maybe? Wakizashi, not in full detail polish, but Hada and hamon visible, latter part of Edo period I guess.

I too thought there may be a twist to this exercise, thought that maybe some Naoe Shizu (or preferably Shizu as i should have put) smith had a great day on the ranch one day Still, happy to be in the ball park, great exercise, we should do more of this kind of thing. Thanks Darcy.

Naoe Shizu school

Nothing much to add to the above, nice healthy blade. Nakago shape and width of 3.3 cm (quite wide) was another factor.

I cant work out whether you like the suriage work, or you saw it as a bargaining tool

Kunisada, Kanbun

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.