Bruce Pennington

Found out I have 2 of his with Showa stamps, and as with the Seki stamped blades, even these 2 mei are different! Don't know if this helps:

I have 3 on file and all 3 have different mei. One is close to this one (and is just as hard to read!) This is the other that begins with "Seki" but the mei kanji are different:

Nice, Chris, thanks!

Hi Marcin, Not out of place at all. I only have 3 of his on file, this one being one of them. I see what you mean. There is an extra stroke on the kakihan and Mitsu that are not on the other one. However, the extra stroke on the kakihan is seen on this third example, though, not on the Mitsu. He was one of the smiths that signed with another name - Teruhide. JSI has a page about him Ishido Teruhide; Japaneseswordindex.com, with some mei for comparison. In this case, though, the kaigunto comes with a nice kamon, and has a stamped number - 20 - on the mune as does his other blades on file. So, I'd write this one off as a student mei cutter, or a rush job, or a bad Monday after a fun weekend. It also is made worse looking because of the poor powder job from the seller.

Interesting Tony! My light-weight gunto has a chrome plated blade as well and has a fuller, though the kissaki is standard shape.

I saw that, too, but realized that it is the shop we are recognizing. The shop would easily have gotten blades made by different smiths/forges.

Anyone look at current asking prices for Type 95s? Just scanned ebay and they are going through the roof! $1,200 is the low end with several above $1,500 up to $2,200 USD!!!! Sure, that is asking price and the actual sale may go lower, but my point is the asking prices are way up.

Difference in fittings could be due to customer requests? Note the same late-war coating under the ito, instead of same':

Maybe a self-portrait? Ha! Seriously, Jim, that's a great looking habaki! Thanks for posting.

Said to be true gendaito, though each blade must be considered on it's own. Also popular among many collectors because of his unique story.

You can see the kanji on this page: Dating Japanese Swords - Japaneseswordindex.com

Garrett, You can contact any of the dealers on the NMB dealer forum: Dealer Showcase. And there is always ebay. The other guys will have to opine on age and value. Hopefully someone can help you.

Rob, You've done everything you can short of paying for a polish. You can try uchiko powder, but I've had little to no success with it on rust and spots.

Yeah, that's going to be a judgement call on your part Troy. I think just about all of us have our fake or poor quality sword we bought at the beginning of our collecting years. If money is tight, you might opt for the return. If you have plenty for future purchases, then keep it as a lesson-learned.

Sesko's list doesn't show a Toyomaru, however there are many late-war smiths we have been coming across that are not in his book. Anything is possible in the world of WWII gunto. As with the fuchi, that kabutogane has some nice workmanship. Not what we normally see from fakers.

DOH!!!

Thank you, Adam, that is a very nice example! And you are getting quite a nice collection, too! I only had 2 other Kanetoshi with the kokuin. Now I have 3.

Bit of a mixed bag. The wrap is folded the Chinese way, for sure. Surprising detail on the fuchi, if it's a fake. The machi and kissaki have proper shapes for a Japanese blade, but the fakes sometimes get that right. I could give it 50/50 chance between fake and late-war made in Manchuria legit. On second thought, though, the mei looks bad. Waiting for the translation guys on that. As to plastic rayskin - it's called cellulite. The Japanese used it throughout the war. I used to think it was a late-war item, but I've seen several gunto using it with dates all through the war period.

Beautiful workmanship, Adam! I have a few of his blades on file. 6 of the 14 are Showa stamped, and are undated. There is corrosion above the mei which would hide any stamp that may be there, but there may not be one at all. Love the "3" stamped in kanji. rare to see a blade numbered in kanji, but not unheard of. Only one other blade on file is numbered and it's in Western numerals. Wildly speculating, but with no date and kanji numbering, I'd say this blade was made fairly early, like mid-late 1930s. But that's just pure guessing.

Thus the chart now has "RA" in '41, but with a footnote: (note: Pasting the chart on the NMB site causes spacing distortion) 1941 WA ワ KA カ YO ヨ TA タ RE レ SO ソ TSU ツ NE ネ NA ナ WA 6 -S WA 134S WA 158S WA 175S WA 231S WA 238S WA 638S KA 89-S KA 228-S KA 232-S KA 236-S KA 238-S KA 275-S KA 353-S KA 405-S KA 458-S YO 11 YO 57-S YO 122-S YO 150-S YO 162-S YO 234 YO 320-S YO 349-S YO 350-S YO 352-S TA 24-S TA 68-S TA 127-S TA 181-S TA 287-S TA 298-S TA 277-S TA 305-S TA 313-S TA 336-S RE 6-S RE 71-S RE 153-S RE 193-S RE 347-S RE 413-S RE 409-S RE 476-S RE 524-S SO 25-S SO 66-S SO 185-S SO 216-S SO 219-S SO 231-S SO 257-S SO 308-S SO 453-S SO 482-S SO 564-S SO 574-S SO 620-S SO 630-S SO 718-S Tsu 29-S Tsu 95-S Tsu556-S Tsu 198S Tsu 254S Tsu 438S Tsu 573S Tsu 575S Tso 601S Tsu 651S NE 2-S NE 26-S NE 144-S NE 347-S NE 384-S NE 396-S NE 401-S NE 414-S NA 5-S NA 124-S NA 106-S NA 184-S NA 232-S NA 354-S NA 377-S NA 379-S Na 383-S NA 484-S NA 573-S NA 574-S NA 716-S RA 222-S# ? 218 ? 283 ?xxx Filed off.Bohi 1942 RAラ MUム U ウ WIヰ NOノ O オ* KUク YAヤ MAマ RA 7(?)-S RA 100-S RA 341-S RA 495-S RA 768-S RA 820-S RA 823-S RA 858-S RA 934-S RA 984-S RA1027S RA1030S RA1071S RA1162S RA1196S RA1232S RA1256S RA1333S RA1356S Mu 87-S Mu 89-S Mu213-S Mu528-S Mu555-S Mu595-S Mu637-S Mu705-S U 20-S U 70-S U 99-S U 255-S U 357-S U 414-S U 481-S U 592-S U 703-S U 704-S U 1593-S NO 34-S NO 273-S NO 302-S NO 430-S NO 474-S NO 493-S NO 533-S NO 730-A Ku 33-A Ku 101-A Ku 327-A Ku 452-A Ku 466-A Ku 471-A Ku 560-A Ku 878-A Ku 897-A Ku 947-A Ku1020A Ku1087A Ku1200A Ku1226A Ku1327A YA 72-A YA 79-A YA 201-A YA 246-W YA 350-A YA 353-A YA 417-A YA 475-A YA 505-A YA 608-A YA 622-A YA 623-A YA 677-A YA 702-A YA 710-A YA 736-A YA 957-A YA1048-A Ma 77-A Ma 78-A ? 26-S ? 345-S ? 483-S ? 529-S ? 744-S ノ???-A

For those that enjoy the SMR Mantetsu world, we just came across this 1941 Koa Isshin that has a number - RA 222. That series is from the first series of 1942. My first thought was "Ah, overlap! They started the RA series in '41 and continued through to '42", but after consulting the chart, it's clear the RA series began in '42. We have 1942 blades numbered RA 7 and RA 100 already, both with the distinct 1942 mei. Quoting Thomas, @Kiipu: "... the mei 満鐵作之 is 1941 but the series ラ would be 1942 and a different mei 満鐵謹作. If correct, could it be a blade from 1941 that was not finished until 1942?" His hypothesis is the best one I can think of. Photos

Excellent! Rare to see bonji on a gunto blade. Any estimate of a date range?

Looks like something made by Hanwei. I just checked their site and didn't see any WWII replicas, but I have seen examples of their work posted on NMB. Top notch workmanship.

I just checked his listing. He only is shipping within the United States. Sorry!

Not common, but we have seen one or two, like that one. I posted a while back and @Lareon commented on.