real or fake

[Grey Doffin]

Once again I have someone wondering if the sword they have listed on ebay is real or fake, and not anxious to take my word on it. If you wouldn't mind, check out this sale:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110237277705&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

and give us your opinion.

Thanks, Grey

[Guest Nanshoku-Samurai]

101% fake

[huntershooter]

Photo's don't show much of blade.

Garish kosherae screams CHINESE.

My money's on fake. Never seen a Nihonto like this.

[Guest Nanshoku-Samurai]

He knows that it's a fake. I sent him a kind e-mail and here's what he replied:

your a dork

 

Oh well ...

[Grey Doffin]

your a dork

Makes me feel better about being called a loser.

Wonder how he managed to keep 100% positive feedback.

Grey

[Joseph P.]

Fake. (At least the koshirae).

 

Also, :lol: :lol:

[Brian]

Better to be a dork and a loser than a conman.

If he doesn't know what he has, then he is just misguided. But once he knows, and has been told, and keeps up the pretense, then he shifts over to the conman league.

 

Brian

[sencho]

Also one look at the Fukura says immediately that it is 100% fake.... classic Chinese style!!! :lol:

[Walter]

There's no photo of the tang but I'm pretty sure the mei says:

People Republic of China Saku

[Ed Harbulak]

Last summer I went to the estate sale of a marine as it was advertised that there were some swords in his collection. It turned out that the three or four swords he had were all Chinese reproductions and priced accordingly. I assume he wasn't lucky enough to get a genuine Japanese sword while in the service (presumeably WWII in the Pacific) but never the less always wanted one. When the Chinese copies became available he apparently bought a couple to remind him of his days in the war and his relatives conducting the estate sale may have assumed he brought them back after the war. It just goes to prove that not all swords from the estates of WWII veterans are necessarily genuine. There were some other genuine WWII items at the estate sale, such as linked .50 cal. machine gun ammo with correct date stamps on the heads. So he was obviously somewhere in the Pacific, just didn't bring back any Japanese swords, or if he did, no longer had any at the time he died.

Ed

[IanB]

All, One of my more pleasing duties as a curator was to comment on items brought into the museum by the public. One day a gent came in with a gunto he had bought from a friend of long standing that had reputedly been in the friend's collection 30 years. By chance the museum had bought a selection of repro swords from India on the basis that in a few decades they would have patinated and become very difficult to identify. Yes, you have guessed it - the gunto was one of these. I asked the gent to wait a few moments and brought our fake gunto for the gent to compare with his recent purchase. He went rather pale and muttered 'The b*st*rd' through gritted teeth and left without saying another word. A Sad end to a relationship I feel. Ian Bottomley