Possible Wakizashi

[George]

Please forgive my obvious ignorance in this realm. This sword/long knife belongs to a friend who is elderly and in poor health. He is interested in selling it, and would like to know more about it. He inherited it from his father some 40 years ago.

The total length is 19.5 inches, and the blade is 14 inches. The scabbard is in poor condition, but looks as though it once was of good quality. The terminal portion of the scabbard seems to be well done.

The brass spacers seem too large for the tsuba, as they overlap onto some of the decoration.

The hilt is unmarked.

Thanks for the assistance,

George

Well, my computer ignorance is showing, as well. It is telling me "The file size is too big, maximum allowed size is 1 MB." Even after reading the directions about making the pictures smaller, I still haven't the foggiest. I will submit what I have, and wait for my kids to help.

[Jean]

George,

 

To have a better idea we need the length of the blade cutting edge from top notch at the habaki (copper collar above the handle)and the tip. We need also a picture of the entire bare blade (remove the handle).

 

It looks a fine blade.

[George]

Thank you Jean. The distance from the tip of the blade to where the habaki begins is 13 inches.

 

 

My son talked me through how to reduce the pixels.

George

[Jean]

It looks like a ko wakizashi or rather a sunobi tanto, probably late Muromachi, perhaps Mino den.

[Mark]

George

 

where are you located? Maybe there is a group or show in your area. We could try and give an idea of value but a hands on examination would be more acurate

[George]

Hi Mark,

I'm in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Thanks for the suggestion. I have to google almost every word I read here. Feeling a bit overwhelmed.

George

[Surfson]

George, it looks like a decent healthy blade that is 300-500 years old. There is no signature and it is out of polish but the blade is also unaltered and restorable. The fancy mounts on it look like they might have some value (better pictures would help). If you were to list it on ebay with these same photos, it would probably go for somewhere between $500 and $1000. Hope that helps.

[George]

I hope these are okay.

 

 

George

[bigjohnshea]

George,

I agree with Robert on the estimate of the value.

 

I would emphasize though that while it could be restored it is likely not worth the money. Unless this blade passes shinsa as something of significant rarity, then you will not be able to break even on the cost of restoration.

 

There is a shinsa coming up in Chicago in April. The owner might be able to send this to have a window polish for a very reasonable cost of something like 300-400$, and this might bring out some of the features of the less damaged areas, maybe get it into good enough condition to be looked at in shinsa, and have an attribution of school of origin perhaps. Granted shinsa alone would cost around 200-300$ so together you have an investment that likely represents the value of the blade just to get a possible attribution.

 

If the owner is truly interested in selling, I think they should not try and seek out the possibility that this is a gem in the rough, but simply set a price that they are willing to accept to part with it, and put it up for sale. My opinion (which isn't worth much really) is that to sell this fast you could sell it for 400$ on ebay. If you're willing to let it ride and wait for the right buyer you could get more.

 

It's a nice little wak though.

Cheers,

[Brian]

Sorry John, but no. This is worth more than that. You would get a dozen offers of $400 here. I suspect this would go for around $800 as is. Nice hi, good shape, decent fittings. While many of us would love to offer $500 and take it, realistically this one shows the signs of being a nice blade. It's always a gamble, but one that many are willing to take.

 

Brian

[bigjohnshea]

Brian,

I did say that I agree with Robert's valuation, which encompasses your $800, and you seem to be in agreement with me that it would sell fast at $400 given that you stated there would be dozens of offers. Only saying this because I'm not sure why you are disagreeing with me.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would buy it for $400 and restore it or sell it for more. I'm not one of them. I've reached the point in my purchasing of swords that I only want to buy things I want to keep. Reselling and restoring swords has proven to be an enormous waste of money.

 

Cheers,