DTM72

@HiramAbiff as a brother, coming to you on the level, the daisho is not a bad deal. Displayed on a nice katana kake, it would certainly garner attention from collectors of all levels. As mentioned above, the blades of both are not of the highest quality. The katana being suriage (cut-down in length) may have been a long tachi at the beginning of it's life. That being said, it has the appearance that it may have been made in the early 1500's. BUT, this time period brings about some problems. This was the warring period, and many swords were somwhat mass-produced, with mediocre quality known as kazu-uchimono. This katana (dai) does not appear to be such, but again, not the greatest quality. For prospective, if you were to encounter this unpapered katana, in this koshirae, at a show, I would expect an asking price of around $2250. Additionally, if the unpapered wakizashi (sho) were found at a different vendor at the same show, I would expect to see an asking price of about $1250-$1500. Purchased separately this would cost you, after haggling over the sales price, around $3000-$3500. Trust me, many of us had much worse "1st nihonto" in our past. I'm not sure if I will make it to the Chicago show, but if i do, I would enjoy chatting. All the best my brother! (studying my work as a Junior Deacon for the next ensuing Masonic year) Dan

Sure looks like brass to me. Tsuka looks to be the same color as the tsuba...brass. Number on the blde seems very low Markings on the fuchi look off. Somone with more knowledge needs to clarify for us. @Kiipu @Bruce Pennington @Shamsy https://bid.sofedesi...-officer-sword-01002 They also have another NCO that looks off. https://bid.sofedesi...word-matching-155437 If my assumptions are incorrect, and these are authentic, glad I could help you locate some rare gems! Dan

Yondai Tsuguhira 1773

The Type 19 was regulation until the Type 94 came around in 1934, and the Type 98 in 1938. Earliest Murata swords were made in the late 1880's to 1890's. During those 30-40 years, there were multiple conflicts and wars this could have been used. My thoery on this one is that it began life with the threaded end on the nakago, and the mountings were damaged...possibly also damaging the threaded portion as well. Thoery again, the threads were removed, nakago reshaped, and remounted prior to 1934. See pic below of a Murata with the threads.

I think it might have been a Murata blade that was given a machi-okuri (poorly) and the nakago was made to fit the mountings.

I'll take a stab at it. The blade looks to be in decent condition and if it were to be in normal samurai mounts, with no papers, would probably sell for $2000-2750 USD. The koshirae is nice, but not the highest quality...still nice though. The koshirae have been selling for around $2500-3000. Put the sword and koshirae together and I would estimate $5000-6000 USD. A similar item form a reputable US seller is posted below. Same seller had another tachi very similar to this that sold for the same price range of $5000-6000, so I am putting my estimate in-line with recent sales of similar items. As my father used to tell me "it is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it". You may encounter someone who just has to have it, and pays much more, but uncertain times may severely hinder the sales price. Wishing you all the best. https://www.ebay.com...c:g:X2wAAOSwBk9lTxdc

Just re-upped my Gold Card status. See you in Vegas @Brian

Black bodywork and "Sparkie Sliders" are from early days. Blue bodywork and orange wheels are when I was in expert club racing.

Kamusta po Vincent. Kung kaylang mo nang tulong sabihin mo lang sakin. I agree with @Rivkin that the wakizashi looks to be from the 1500's. I also agree with @rebcannonshooter that it is signed 勝重 More info can be found on the smith here--> https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/KAT172

That is exactly what I was thinking.

I pulled the bolt completely out and saw no numbers at all. I think I may just wait on a good Type 99 example.

How about Friday? Either night works for us though. Added some pics to my post above. Wear your best samurai kimono and kamishimo for some good pics. lol

The wife and I are 100% available for dinner one night. There is a good hibachi and sushi place inside the resort with small intimate tables, or large banquet rooms that overlook the gardens and ponds. Saki anyone?

The stock was made in two pieces. I thought it was split too. I ended up not buying it. Getting too close to the holidaze and should probably use the money for other things...like saving for the Las Vegas show in January!

Didn’t know where else to post this so @Brianfeel free to move to appropriate place. I have been wanting a Japanese WWII rifle to compliment all of my Nihonto and Imperial Japanese swords. There is a fellow dealer selling a Type 38 6.5mm rifle. See attached pics. He is asking $575 but will take $500. Seems like a good deal to me since these are getting hard to find. Please let me know what you think! Unlike Nihonto, I don’t have any reference material for these. Much Appreciated! Dan

The 4 pics above are a dealer next to me. The uniforms are field grade officers and the sashes in the boxes are for generals as well as the shoulder boards. Not sure of the story on the US Army uniform. I believe it belonged to a general.

@Bruce Pennington @IJASWORDS

I still cannot help you on something such as what school or Smith would have made this. I still believe it is late Shinto or early Shinshinto.

Just a couple pics of my display at the show. Wishing everyone the best. Dan

Now that you show the habaki, that 100% clears up my thoughts on sai-bo. It is just staining following the contours of the habaki profile.

I am guessing they made the papers in order of submission time/date. I had two of (almost) the last items submitted to the shinsa team. Both were last minute purchases as all of us were packing up. I immediately ran them upstairs, and both passed. <-- sun shines on a dogs behind every once in a while.

And if no one else tells you... THANKS! for all that you do for the Nihonto community.

Grey Doffin has great website for additional books, if you are looking for more. This looks to be a nice piece. I can tell you that most of us had some horrible "first pieces". Out of polish, slightly rusted or stained, no papers, etc. I won't tell you how to spend your money, but will say, you are on the right path...looking at papered examples from reputable dealers. Just keep in mind, there are reputable dealers here in the USA that have papered, quality items. Lastly, please understand that IF you buy a Nihonto in Japan, you cannot just pay for it, walk out of the store and come home with it. Each sword has a torokusho (registration card) filed with the local Prefectural Education Board. If change in ownership is to occur, (you buy it) the seller sends the proper transfer of ownership paperwork and the torokusho to the Education Board. The board reviews the information (2-3 weeks) and issues an export license to the seller. Only then can the seller ship to the USA or allow you to go straight to the airport with it. Wishing you all the best!

@buttles sometimes you can get better pictures of the mei by putting a low to medium power flashlight to the side of the mei, causing the surface to be lit, but the chisel marks will then be in the shadows, thus highlighting the mei for easier reading. Just a suggestion.

Other more educated guys will be along to help with pinpointing the possible school. What I can tell you is due to the light color of the nakago (tang) and the clarity of the yasurime (file marks on the nakago) the blade probably dates to the shin-shinto era. (1780's-1860's) One area of concern that I have is the diagonal grayish line near the hamachi, running towards the munemachi. (notches where the habaki stops) Please provide some good pictures of this area, on both sides. Since this line appears on both sides, in a similar manner, I suspect sai-ba. Need better pics of this area to know for sure. As to helping you with school, it would help to provide good pics of the boshi (tip) and the area I mentioned above, along with some detailed close-ups of the hamon. Beautiful koshirae, but I'm a sucker for tachi mounts.