Conway S

Rene, Take a look at this thread for a brief discussion on the above sword. @Renech Conway

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I hope these pictures are better! Conway

My sentiments exactly. "Thanks" for sharing with the group. None of the Type 95s go cheap online. From a numbers perspective, are the Mizuno and late Suya with unfullered blades more rare than the side latch? Conway

It's hard to find the right lighting for snapping pictures without capturing too much glare. Let me know if more pictures are needed. Thanks. Conway

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Greetings, I am hoping for some opinions on a mumei gunto I have had for a while. It came to me in an antique shirasaya. My thoughts are this is an arsenal made blade based on what I perceive to be a faint 三 subassembly number. Would the file marks fall into the category of kesho-yasuri ? I am trying to better identify this sword for my own understanding. I appreciate any help. Thanks. Conway

Also true on Live Auctioneers and other online auctions. If you pay top dollar and then have to figure in the buyer's premium, taxes, and shipping, it becomes a slippery slope. Gone are the days when you could go the auction in person and try to get a good deal because there might be no one else bidding on the item. Conway

@Jcstroud Did you see the one posted in this thread by Swords? Scroll down past the eBay sword. Conway

Looks like 95 九五 to me, Bruce. Conway

Possibly Kaneoto 兼音? https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/43914-from-guam-in-1944/#comment-455115 Conway

Luh, A lot of great information about Masahiro can be found in this article. If possible, could you post more photos of the rest of the sword? @Jcstroud take a look. Conway

@Bruce Pennington Subassembly number 66. Conway https://www.ima-usa....rd-matched-number-66

I saw this Mitsunaga souvenir that sold yesterday with painted subassembly number 二五. Does anyone know the length of the nakago on these? I saw the one Bruce posted earlier was also not shortened. Conway

I agree with that. I fell under the Showa22 spell for a moment as I didn't look closely at the second character before my initial post. I am aware the seller lists some questionable pieces with mis-matched koshirae and polishing half measures... They did have a General's grade Type 19 parade sword that looked very tempting recently. But my suspicion is always high when sellers take pictures from 3 feet away. Conway

Thanks for the replies. The fuchi is my biggest concern given the crudeness of the stampings, especially the star. See link below. This seller once sold a Type 95 with a chrome plated saya! Too bad the listing is no longer available. I think it sold for $400+. Conway https://www.ebay.com/itm/335018236514?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20221115143614%26meid%3D3ba0606ed55f4389a8974365969bc310%26pid%3D101616%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D235185763278%26itm%3D335018236514%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2SignedOut&_trksid=p4375194.c101616.m5481&_trkparms=parentrq%3A74c20e5518a0a8cdcc779906ffffb4d0|pageci%3Aefe563b4-4e42-11ee-b2ef-9e9091001ca2|iid%3A1|vlpname%3Avlp_homepage

You're right, Mark. It's 高正. Looks like he was a Seki smith. I also saw the seller previously had this exact listing and write up on eBay as Takamasa. Conway

I found this "interesting" sword today for sale by Showa22. I have not yet seen a sword with only 高山 on the nakago. It is unclear what stamp if any is located above the date on the reverse side since the photos are taken from outer space. This does not look like a 高山刀 given the kissaki shape. Any thoughts as to whether the signature is fake? I am not aware of anyone signing as Takayama. Thanks. Conway https://www.ebay.com...er=artemis&media=SMS

Found this late Suya example with serial 155,437. It has a brass tsuba instead of iron. As you can see from the pictures the Suya and Tokyo First Arsenal stamps on the fuchi are very faint. It does give me some pause because the seller is also selling two other fake NCO swords at the moment... If it is fake they picked a good serial number to use. Interested to hear others' thoughts. Thanks. Conway

@Jcstroud Measuring from the nakago-jiri to the mune/ha-machi is 9 inches on the dot. Only signs of green paint are on the habaki. Not sure if it was intentional or not. Conway

Only looking at the sword without consideration to the mounts, would the absence of togishi on the mei lend itself to being late war production knowing that Masahiro and Masanao Takayama-to usually have the polisher listed? Conway

Here is another souvenir from Griffin Militaria. This is the only full shot of the nakago. If the nakago-jiri is shortened they didn't square it off which I why I wanted to point it out. See link for more pictures. Conway https://griffinmilit...cer-kai-gunto-sword/