SteveP85

p.s '' in Australia the urban myth exists which says that our soldiers in the islands used jeep springs to turn out fake Japanese swords which they then sold to gullible and wealthy GIs as the real thing . '' I really like that myth! Thanks again to all - may my next sword be an educated buy

Haha and Thanks for the replies guys! As soon as I started looking into it I realised that this sword was a little 'different' from what I was seeing... After years of collecting I don't usually pick up anything without knowing about it, but this was temptingly cheap (and obviously cheap for a reason!!) and something I had never owned before. Thanks again for your input, I have now learned a lot. Fortunately with very little money down the drain.... Not to worry - and I really appreciate the responses, I am very glad to learn my lessons with this piece over something I spent a lot more money on. Regards Steve

Few more photos I had on file

Good morning, Allow me to introduce myself. This is my first post, and my first Japanese sword. I have been a collector of military weapons for a number of years, concentrating on battlefield picked up and surrendered items. This sword appears to be an older family blade, re hung for WW2 military service. It came directly from the veterans family and included was the trophy paperwork from 1946. From basic research I believe the blade to be pre WW2 production, and possibly an old family blade. The grip is a very basic aluminium example, which I presume to be late war expedient fitting? The tsuba is iron, and appears to have a fair bit of age to it. Not what I have usually seen on WW2 NCO swords. Presumably it is original to the blade? I apologise for the very crude images, I will take much nicer ones when the sun comes out. The only information I can tell you about the blade is that it is unsigned and sharpened all the way to the collar. I haven't been able to see clear hamon, and certainly do not know what to look for on a more advanced level. The blade appears to have a lot of sharpening marks, presumably from an oil stone? It hasn't been sharpened recently, and I would presume the last time it was sharpened was during WW2...