DTM72

The tables for this show were sold out by June of last year. Due to the bad weather in surrounding areas, a few people had to cancel their tables. I was able to get a last minute table, and lay my stuff out for sale. I sold 5 swords on Friday afternoon. Excellent show to attend.

I had a table at the OVMS “Show of Shows” this past weekend. Had a table right by Matt Brice of St. Croix blades, and also near Matt Jerrel of Sohei Swords. Had a great show and sold 5 swords. One customer asked about flying with swords and guns. I told him to use an Apple AirTag or something like it. <~~cursed myself. When flying home, I had a direct flight with no layover. I used the tag on the fight there since I had a layover. All was fine. I did not use it on the return flight since it was direct. Sure enough, some freaking how, they never put the case on the plane. I get to my home airport and wait for it to come out with the other bags…it never showed! I went straight to the ticket counter and raised holy hell! They interviewed the ground crew here in Charleston and they never saw the case on the plane. The next call was to Kentucky. The airline talked to the ground crew there and they quickly found it…still there! Lucky for me, the case is airtight and waterproof. They arranged for it to be returned to today, and all is finally well. LESSON TO ALL! If I had the AirTag I would have seen the case was not on the plane, and could have saved myself a near heart attack! It is a cheap insurance policy to protect our valuable items. I had two matchlocks, 12 swords and two 50 year old shotguns my father gave to me that morning. This could easily have gone very bad. I trusted the airline to get it right and it went very wrong. US D.O.T. law limits an airlines liability to $4200 for lost luggage. I had more than that in the case! D.O.T. Law also orders airlines to refund your luggage fees if your luggage arrives more than 24 hours late. Additionally the airline must reimburse you for replacement clothes, toiletries, etc., that you have to purchase while waiting for your bags to arrive. Hope this never happens to anyone else. Let my close call be a lesson for you as we go into sword show season. Dan

I have a 4th generation Tsuguhira. Only 3 generations away from what you are looking for! lol

Any updates on the show? Would love to see some pics/stories of how the show went.

1868 is year 1 of Meiji, like @Shugyosha mentioned so 1868 + 20 -1 =1887 Thanks for everything guys!

Last part Kuni Yama ?? Can’t guess the last one. Plus, this part doesn’t make sense to me. Thanks for everything!

Second of three parts, need a double check please. Mei ji ni ju nen ku gastu September of 1887

Some of these I get, some I cannot find. Thanks in advance! Shi ju roku ? hachi ju ichi ? So 46 ? 81 ?

Also, this single character on the outside of the lock; 武 Take?

I see: Tem po Ju Ni ? Nen ? Just for fun I included the pics of the four parts with Ju Kyu (19). The stock has a painted 19 inside but hard to get a good picture of it.

I cannot make it to this one. I will be set-up at the Show of Shows, by the same group OVMS, in February.

I was 24. A single father of 2 boys that was lucky to have 2 pennies to rub together on good days. (their mom left us and dissappeared for years...party girl) I saw a gunto saya on a shelf at an antique mall. I grabbed it and out fell a broken piece of a Showato katana. Signed Noshu Seki Jyu Fujiwara Kanefusa. The seller wanted $75 for both, but would sell me the broken katana for $30. I didn't have enough money for both, so I got the broken katana. To me, at that time, I felt like I hit the lottery! Over a period of 6 months, the same guy sold me a decent Showa period civilian tsuka for $25. It only needed minor filing on the inside to fit. I later found a matching civilian tsuba that matched the fittings on the tsuka for $35. Working as an apprentice machinist, I was able to carefully grind a new kissaki onto the broken blade. End product looked decent. I took the newly re-fitted katana, now a wakizashi, to the Show of Shows in Lousiville, Kentucky in February of 1995 and quicky found a cheap $25 saya for it. Altogether I had $115 into it. A guy offered me $400 for it and I thought I hit the lottery again! Good times!

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@Lewis B I have been on both sides of the table. As a seller, my teenage, technical smart teenage daughters set me up with ways of taking electronic payments. I personally accept Paypal, Venmo, Cashapp, and Apple pay. With Paypal nad Venmo, I have sold items as low as $20 and as high as $5500. If the seller has either of these applications, their credit card information is already loaded with Paypal, Venmo, etc. and can be charged instantly. We agree on a price and the buyer scans my QR code at the table. They type in the amount to pay, and send. About 1-2 minutes I get an email showing $$$ has been received into your account. As for shipping, I have never accepted money at the show, then shipped afterwards. It is not that I would not do this for someone, but it has not happened for me in this way. I would have no problem returning home, and carefully packaging the item(s) and shipping to the new owner. <-- If I was a buyer, I would make sure to get a business card and full name of the seller. If something should go wrong, you could always turn to the person who runs the show to provide additional information on the person who you are dealing with. Wishing you all the best in your collecting journey! Dan

Similar, but different.

@Ontario_Archaeology Matt, I don't have my reference books near me at the moment, but I believe this to be Imperial household. The kiku shape on the push mekugi, and on the end of the handle, as well as the fully decorated backstrap and the 3-5-3 little bush. <-- sorry, I forget what they are called. I'll look all the details up later. Very nice find!

Eric has 1 or 2 Yasukuni for sale. VERY nice examples too! @owazamono

Need to see better pictures of the overall sugata (shape) and picures of the kissaki (tip). These pics will help us to help you know more of the time period from whence this came. Right now, with limited information, I would guess it to be from the 1500's.

The Brown/Red color of the tassel is indicative of a field officer grade (Major or Colonel). Generals had brown and gold tassels. See attached picture. Company grade officers had a Brown/Blue tassel (Lieutenant, Captain) Problem with tassels is that anyone can buy a tassel, and stick it to any sword. Without any provenance, it's just a tassel...hard to prove it was original to the sword.

Careful when you say "deleted the mei". This eludes to removing the mei by grinding or file. Although it has some rust spots, it may be in decent enough condition to send to shinsa. With NTHK or NTHK-NPO they would call it "Gimei", but...give you an attribution. The color and shape of the nakago should be preserved. This would help the shinsa team to asscertain the time period, school, and possible maker. If the mei was removed, on both sides, valuable information is now lost. Hope this helps.

There is now! lol

I translated one side of this one on Facebook. I also mentioned that the mei is VERY clear and does not match the age of the nakago. Sadamune of Sagami was a student of Masamune, and supposedly his adopted son.

I agree! The young fella in the second picture was facinated by the armor, and the light saber. Just before packing up everything on the table, I put the armor on for him. I offered to put it on him, but he was worried about the weight of it. Still had a good time, and lots of pics were taken.

Did anyone see this crazy Samurai-Jedi walking around the show with converse shoes? I couldn't see him because I was wearing a mempo. lol Thanks to Mark C. @Japan2112 for the pics!

I am guessing that is some kind of a Chinese parade saber being sold with the NCO blade as a lot?