Patinamax

Thank you for the information! This was very helpful. I was wondering - as he has great feedback for the most part. The package came in last night and I have not opened it yet as I have been busy for the holidays, but Mike Yamaguchi's name was on the box if that helps. He is in Berkeley, so less than 2 hours from me, hopefully has storefront... I will open it up this weekend and have a look and take some more pictures. I will have to keep an eye on his shop as I have seen some sold listings from him that have been 300+ year old swords in decent shape sell for less than 300... Again - very much appreciated! I am new here and working on learning more about Nihonto.

Thank you for the input all. I was mostly making sure it was authentic as I am still a novice on this front!

Thank you! I had wondered if the new rust was something that would be determining on whether it was authentic or not, although for some reason I did not consider new rust on an old blade... derp! The pictures are from the seller online, I will be happy to take more when it comes in (hopefully today!)

The price, as also I am a big fan of blades with no tsuba - as for the price, when I bid on it it was just under 300, I picked it up for just under 400. I figure with what I've seen, I could do worse.

Just purchased this on a whim as the seller had good feedback, and an interesting assortment of swords. They seem to have a good return policy, but I saw that this auction was ending soon and wanted to jump on it, figured a return would be easy if it isn't authentic. Seller says "Takada Ju" and "Shizusada", mostly terms I am not familiar with, and the one thig that looked odd to me was the rust. Here are some pictures from the listing - just wanting an advance idea on if it's legit or not. Thank you all in advance! Sorry for the low picture quality, if it is any help and a make or break thing, I will be happy to send more pictures when I receive it.

Got a couple more pictures with a different light source - hopefully this is adequate, the store has been fairly busy because of christmastime so I have been hard up to break away!

let me try again in a bit, I'll see if I can get rid of most of the excess light overall but keep it visible!

some pictures of the Boshi

let me take a couple more pictures!

sorry for the awkwardness of the photos! not much room in the store

More pictures (will post more following)

Hi all, a customer wanted me to evaluate and appraise this (approx) 22 1/2" (from tip of the blade to the end, out of the Saya) Wakizashi that his family has had for a long time. He is less interested in the value, and more the history of the piece. Unfortunately, a younger relative had taken it and thrown it around quite a bit, and it is in rough condition. The tsuba and fittings on the Saya all appear to be iron from what I can tell - and a friend of mine said it may have been shortened - but I do not believe it has been. Any information and translation would be greatly appreciated! Sorry if there are a lot of repeated pictures - the inscription is rough and difficult to get a good picture of even with good lighting. **I will reply to this topic with more pictures, as they are too large to upload all at the same time!

That was unfortunately what I had expected, but I wanted someone with more experience to inform me. Thank you!

My store received this sword from a friend who believed it to be a less expensive one - and parts of it do look cheaper, but I am unable to translate it. Any help or translation would be appreciated, and I can share more pictures as well, mostly trying to get an idea of what I have at the moment, as I am still a novice. Thank you!

I'm not sure how I missed uploading these pictures, I thought I did on the original post. Overall shot of the blade and most of the sheath.

Here are a few photos of the tang on the reverse of the signature stamp. the first picture seems to have a signature or part of one (that may be what some folks were referring to) near the pin hole. I can take a close up of that if necessary! Thanks again all.

Sure, give me a few and I will take a couple.

Thank you all for the information, Bruce especially! One friend I have had told me he was fairly certain it was a machined sword based on looking at the blade. It definitely could use some TLC. It is unfortunate that it is missing so much and in a rough way. I'd like to reiterate if I haven't already stated so that we received it in this condition, I would definitely treat one of my own with much more love. Again, if any closer up pictures would help (just for identification or your own curiosity) please let me know. If any one has any recommendations for who might be someone to sell it to/pay for a restoration I would be open ears. I would like to see it restored, whether through my store doing it or a potential collector/buyer.

My apologies if this is not allowed - I am new here and trying to post this in the relevant subject. I manage a pawn shop in Northern California, and have been attempting to identify the maker of, or general information about a sword that came through the store months ago. The provenance is muddy, the man who brought it in had an Uncle who was in WWII (passed away a few years ago) and had a collection of various blades he had acquired over the years, mostly from Europe. He did however, have one Nihonto that appears to be world war era from what I can tell. Unfortunately, there are missing parts and the wrap and pin were not correctly put on. I have taken a few pictures of what I think should be the most important pictures of this for identification, but please feel free to request more information or pictures. Again, I am new so forgive my ignorance of the subject. I've always taken an interest in older swords, however my knowledge is extremely limited, mostly to ones that come through the store that I get to look up for customers. Any information would be extremely appreciated as well as ideas on the value. If this thread is in the wrong topic please feel free to remove it or let me know. Thank you!