JoshCattermole99

An update. I've decided to take up John's extremely generous offer on the Warring States Period Tanto. Thanks so much John, you are an absolute pleasure to do business with and extremely honest too, explaining in great detail exactly what the item is, and all the pros and cons. Thank you. Also, a thank you for all the members who offered their advice. I, admittedly, walked into this with an attitude of purchasing the handles anyway, but after your honest opinions I was drawn in, and now am the proud owner of a genuine Tanto (after receiving and doing more research myself i'll try to upload some pictures and make a post about it). And that will, hopefully, be a gateway purchase into the broader world of Japanese sword collecting. Once again John, thank you so much.

Wow. All of your comments are interesting and have given me much food for thought. I agree that it is wise to read up with the appropriate books and will look into them. Also, thank you John for your generous offer. I will send you a PM. Thank you so much

Thank you again for your comments and advice. It's much appreciated. What other options would you consider me exploring? Keeping in mind I'm a student with a limited budget, what alternative Samurai relics might I be able to obtain for a reasonable price? I don't plan on becoming a massive Samurai sword collector or anything like that, and I don't mind if something is in really rough shape (for me it adds to the history), so I'm open to any suggestions for alternatives to these handles. Thank you.

Thank you very much guys. I appreciate your comments. Out of curiosity, however, what sort of period would you estimate these were from? 19th century? 18th century? Possibly even 17th century? And another question (apologies if it seems ignorant): were Katanas and Tantos only allowed to be owned and used by members of the Samurai Class? Or could anybody buy one in old times (I.e.-pre c.1880)? Was just curious if these sword parts would have been owned by an actual Samurai. Thanks.

Hello and thank you for letting me join this forum. I recently started reading into Japanese history and Samurai culture and wished to purchase an item or two relating to these. I am a student so a complete antique sword is well out of my budget, but I saw for sale online several antique Japanese Katana and Tanto sword handles that were within my budget. I have absolutely zero expertise in this field and was wondering if anybody could tell me whether they were simply aged fakes or genuine antique Samurai artefacts, and, if possible, the approximate age of the artefacts. Thank you very much in advance for any help you can provide.