Ebay: Koa Isshin: Real Or Fake?

[barnejp]

Hello Everyone,

 

Just notice a Koa Isshin on eBay.

 

Looking forward to opinions.

 

Thank you,

Greg

[David Flynn]

Link please.

[David Flynn]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Manchurian-Koa-Isshin-Mantetsu-Japanese-Imperial-Army-Shingunto-Sword-1941-/162377294864?hash=item25ce70e410:g:jakAAOSwnHZYj6VZ

Looks Ridgey dige.

[barnejp]

Fair dinkum....

[David Flynn]

Yep.

Nice to hear a Canadian speaking Oz.

[barnejp]

Mate, taking the piss..good on ya!

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Greg,

 

The mei seems poorly cut, but accurate. Nice blade, so-so fittings. I'm completely stumped by that seppa without any edge work!

 

Good price considering...

 

Here are pics of my Koa Isshin for comparison:

[Bazza]

FARKUS, FARKUS - sorry, I meant focus, focus (smiley of your choice...)

 

BaZZa.

[Dave R]

I will withhold comment until the auction is over.

[Stephen]

the mei is cut as yours is BP

[paul griff]

Hello,

         Nice looking Mantetsu...Have attached some photo's of the one I have for comparison...Hope they are of use..

                                                                                                                                                                                       Regards,

                                                                                                                                                                                                     Paul..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Stephen, I agree, even the date is the same - Spring 1941. So for a high quality operation like Mantegsu, why would the mei be so thinly cut. The auction pics are low quality, but even the file marks , which are distinct on mine, are almost not visable on the auctioned one. The memugi ana isn't cut in the same place. Then that seppa, which of course could have been a replacement.

 

My first thought on seeing it was this looks more like something done late war, yet it's Spring 1941.

 

I don't know.

[Stephen]

it looks as if some type 0f rust removal was wiped on the nakago, they dont look thin to me, your pix on the other hand once clicked on is like reading a mei with my nose on the nakago

[obiwanknabbe]

Looking closer, the Mei is not poorly cut, it appears to have been wire brushed. look how the yasuri Mei is deep towards the edge and almost invisible near the shinogi line. It looks like it was smoothed over by someone trying to remove rust. 

 

Kurt K

 

And Now seeing what Stephen just wrote. 

[Bruce Pennington]

Ok, sounds good. In fact the auction one looks quite similar to Paul's.

 

Sorry about my pics. They initially posted sideways and I cropped them to fit upright.

[Dave R]

I will withhold comment until the auction is over.

 And now that it is, I think the blade and many if not all of the bits are original and genuine, but did not start service life together. Not the right series of seppa for such an expensive blade, for these were never cheap when new made.

[David Flynn]

There are a lot of Put Togethers, out there. Personally, that doesn't bother me too much, as long as it's good quality.  I'm principly a Gendai to collector and I don't own a Showa to  or NCO sword.  I just don't bother with them.  However it is certainly nice to have a sword in it's original and complete Koshirae.  But to me, the blade is the most important thing.

[reeder]

Seen these seppa on a number of original Mantetsu blades, no surprises or worries there.

 

Blade is just out of polish and someone will have to sink the money into polish. 1941 is a good year for Mantetsu though.

[David Flynn]

Trouble with having a Koa Isshin polished is, not many professional polishers will touch them.

[Stephen]

Right David not much reward because nothing is reviled and not sure, hard on stones, anyone else heard to the likes of that?

[Ray Singer]

Previously shared here by another member of the NMB.

 

Best regards,

Ray

 

Right David not much reward because nothing is reviled and not sure, hard on stones, anyone else heard to the likes of that?

[reeder]

Ray, that is a friend of a friends Mantetsu he had polished. It was a 1939 Koa Isshin.

[David Flynn]

An interesting observation about

 

Koa Isshin blades, some have Mokume hada, some Itame hada and some Nashiji hada.  If supposedly they are are all made the same way, Then why the differences?

I cannot comment on plain Mantetsu blades, as I have only seen a couple and they were badly out of polish.

[Dave R]

Seen these seppa on a number of original Mantetsu blades, no surprises or worries there.

 

 

Worth knowing, thanks for the info'. That's something I have noticed about Gunto in general though, for a service sword made to regulations there's certainly a lot of variation.