drbvac

Geraint: Thanks so much for the great article - price is great considering what I paid for the sword !! This is the Koshira that came with this and the fuchi is exactly as the one you shared

Arigatou gozaimasu Moriyama San.

Have no idea what this may say so any assistance would be greatly appreciated !!!!!

I have had this old unpapered Katana for over 30 years and never did bother to take or send it to shinsa but maybe I will some day. It is not a particularly flashy blade but the mounts are really nice - Attributed by reputable source to late Murimachi Akaska Senguin - tsuba is signed as are the fuchi and koshira, tsuba - Kinai of Echizen - open carved dragon . The Wak from David is late 1500's signed and papered to Masanori and the fittings are close enough other than the tsuba which is plain - anyone out there have a wak sized tsuba by Kinai drop me a note with your price and dimensions ! !

Scanning E-bay for papered Nihonto from many sellers and with no real way to trust postings or seller authenticity it seems that in general the sales offered are a lot lower than one would expext - even from sellers with very good ratings and with free shipping. Less than 2000 dollars for a papered wakizashi seems ridiculous considering the work and time and cost involved in getting any blade papered in the first place. There was a time even with a very trusted seller the only deals were for mumei blades and / or unpapered offerings. What seems to be the general thoughts on the market in general?

I have been collecting edged weapons for over 60 years beginning with some bayonets taken back from WW2 by relatives. Searched for more bayonts from all over the world, for 25 years then Military Officers Swords, German Daggers, Edged weapons from many countries and then picked up my first Nihonto in the mid 80's. Not many dealers around and E-bay didn't even exist so it was hard work getting any assortment and I became pretty well read and took what came up. I managed to acquire some nice pieces and some real dogs which I moved on and in the mid nineties sold all my non-Japanese blades to a large arms dealer, over 250 bayonets, 150 large swords, all classes of German Dress daggers etc etc. By then their were some Nihonto dealers and E-bay was not too bad intitially so added and subtracted till I now only have about 25 blades. Back in the day as I said you took what you could get and PAPERED blades were very rarely available, and when they were the prices were nuts. So - many of my first purchases were mumei and/or unpapered. Now in my mid-seventies with no relatives with any interest in Nihonto I am going to sell some of my little collection and hopefully someone will be thankful to get an antique katana of any type to appreciate and care for for the rest of this century and pass it on to another collector starting out. I am offering them for roughly the same price I paid for them as I never really thought of them as an investment but remember these were dollars from 40 years ago so their may have been a little inflation since then - or I paid too much for them back then!! Both Katana's are in shirasaya, in good polish with no defects or kizae and attractive blades in their own right. Katana # 1 Nakago: Ubu Mei : Mumei Papered; Nope Era/Age : Mid Edo period Mounts ; Shirasaya Nagasa: 26" Sori : Torii-Zori Hamon Type : Gunome Midare - and uguha Jihada : Masame Other Hataraki Visible : Flaws : None Sword Location : Canada Will ship to : Anywhere you want to pay for. Payment Methods Accepted : Pay Pal , Electronic Funds Transfer Price and Currency : 2600 USD Wakizashi # 2 Nakago: Ubu, Mei : Tadayoshi - probably Gimei but in his style and well executed. Papered; Nope Era/Age : 18th century Mounts: Shirasaya Nagasa: 21.5 " Sori : Torii-Zori Hamon Type : Jihada : O-mokume Other Hataraki Visible : Flaws : None Sword Location : Canada Will ship to : Anywhere you want to pay for. Payment Methods Accepted : Pay Pal , Electronic Funds Transfer Price and Currency : 2000 USD Thanks for taking the time to read and take a look at the photos -=

I would if I had one Bruce but it is not my sword ! Will see if I can get some of the entire sword .THese are all I have ! !

As stated above Darcy Broadbank suggested ligh oiling of the Nakago - others say don't touch it as the darkening is a sign of age - I wouldn't bother having it removed and a light oil would prevent any further forming of the red rust and it should be fine

Thank you very much John - much appreciated

Well I figured it would be Ray or Marcus if anyone could = what type of nihonto blade has a threaded nakago? Police or Officers sword - smaller ones

Funny how most of these topics come up over and over again but I don't mind showing my case I had made with locking sliding glass doors and LED lights !

Trust is something earned not developed and it has to be maintained through actions and words or it will fade away and even one bad case can be enough to lose it all. It is also based on truth and although everyone can make a mistake the biggest problem in keeping it intact is never lying and willing to face up to problems openly. We all have others who are disappointed in us but hopefully only through an error and with no malice so just be the best you can be and carry on. Its a NEW YEAR brothers.

I agree for certain question anything you are not happy with but I assumed his main goal was to have a koto blade and was wondering if that was accurate. For smiths with very little information available, the blade itself probably indicates the period as best as you will be able to and Aoi is certainly pretty good with that. He has his koto blade and the rest is for more accuracy on the smith etc. I was just saying the descriptions from AOI are usually pretty accurate to the extent that they go.