Are Buying Shin Gunto A Good Investment ,to Sell Or Not To Sell ?

[matthew]

Just wondering if collecting shin gunto swords will be a good investment ? I have a nice shin gunto which someone is interested in buying but I'm not sure if selling it is the right thing to , its not an old blade it has a showa mark and signed  but the condition is very good ,hmmmm decisions

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hold on to it, that's a virtually a mint example. Interest will always be high in a really good condition Gunto like that.

[vajo]

Very good Matthew 

[ROKUJURO]

Matthew,

that depends on how much is being offered actually.

Generally speaking, an artful, individually handmade item will always have a better value increase over time than something factory made. But if you keep your sword in good shape for the next 300 years, you may also get some money for it! 

[Peter Bleed]

Given the stimulating Bitcoin buzz going on elsewhere o the NMB this is a an interesting discussion.

As an easily grasped "interesting" type, good clean gunto probably have better marketability than other generic sword categories. This makes them relatively liquid. Still, I am not sure they should be considered "good investments." They may not consistently meet the legal requirements that would let them to be traded internationally as "antiques". And more importantly, even if there is a future market in Japan for "militaria", gunto with machine-made blades are never going to enjoy support from Japan.

Will there be a dependable worldwide market for WWII era Japanese weapons? I'm not so sure.

Peter

[vajo]

Peter, the market for ww2 erea blades is rising. I sold this year 5 Showa-to from my collection and all gone fast. I take now a deeper look on gendaito in Late '44, Type3 koshirae because i like that kind of mountings very much.

 

Matthew has a very nice Shin-Gunto (the condition of the leather saya is a dream) and i think that is a very good investment. 

[Bruce Pennington]

Mathew, if you need the money for something else, then sell. But as an investment - only if you are willing to wait 10, 20 or 30 years! There has been a surge in prices for NCO Type 95s over the last year, but the officer market is flat right now. Of course, if you got this for free (passing of a relative) or a steal at a flee market, then your profit will be 100% or more!

[Shamsy]

Bruce is spot on. As much as the old guard would hate to admit it, NCO have run rings around nihonto and officer swords over the last decades. A standard NCO can pull more money than a nice officers!

 

Like any capital investment though, all Japanese swords need to be held for a significant period of time to realise a growth. Copper handles are the exception.

[lonely panet]

and Koa Isshin Mantetsu to

[matthew]

I would like to thank you all for your replies , i have grown to love this sword though originally i was after an older sword , but after owning it for some time it has grown on me and i have learnt a lot about ww era swords  its a  difficult  decision, I'm more interested in older swords though,  i will probably end up selling the car instead  

[matthew]

Mathew, if you need the money for something else, then sell. But as an investment - only if you are willing to wait 10, 20 or 30 years! There has been a surge in prices for NCO Type 95s over the last year, but the officer market is flat right now. Of course, if you got this for free (passing of a relative) or a steal at a flee market, then your profit will be 100% or more!

hi bruce ,thanks for your input , its difficult to know what to do sometimes ,ive collected many things in the past only to sell them on ,usually ended up without the item and then in time without the money , it a funny old game

[IJASWORDS]

I think that if you look at any hobby, you buy what you love, and love what you buy. I collect WW2 swords because I love them, and some times pay over the market price because I am after a specific example to study. Never as an investment. A swords value is what it is worth to a specific buyer, ie, no published general price list.

To answer your question specifically, prices will trend upwards as the demand for GUNTO exceeds the supply on the market. SHAMSY'S NCO example is spot on, as demand is increasing for a limited supply.

Even the NIHONTO are not always 'good investments", you only have to look at the for sale section, and a lot of listings will say a sword is for sale "less than what I paid for it". Why? Generally you pay what it is worth to you at the time, with little bearing to the market.

[David Flynn]

The difference between Non traditional and traditional swords is the amount of study needed.  Most Showato a pretty homogenous, where as, nihonto need a tremendous amount of study.  Not just  for  the smiths and schools, but how to tell a good one.   Flaws abound in Nihonto (because they're handmade).  Learning the different flaws and their consequenses can mean the difference of thousands of dollars. One may buy a Gunto with a Koto blade for eg $1500 But a realy good Gendai would cost over$10,000. Of course this depends on the condition of the blade and who made it.

 Don't forget, Gunto are just Koshirae.   One may have a very expensive Koto sword  that is Gunto.  Instead of a Generic Gunto term, one should differentiate between the blades.   The only time the Generic term Gunto should be used, is with Showato and NCO.

 Outside of Japan, we generally refer to Non Traditional Swords as Swhowa to.  The Japanese use Gunto for these.  

 Outside of Japan, we refer to modern traditionally made blades as Gendai to.  The Japanese uses Showato for these.

All the rest a named after their Periods ie.  Shinshinto, Shinto, Koto. etc.

[Stephen]

Good one David!

[Shamsy]

Yes, nice little summary of terminology. Cheers David

[PNSSHOGUN]

The investment pieces are always going to be either Gendaito, Ancestral blades, important historical swords like Generals grade and swords with provenance or rare variations, high quality mounts etc etc

 

Your regular run of the mill Type 98 Shin Gunto with oil tempered blade is the bread and butter of Military sword collecting. The prices will always stay accessible relative to the rare and exciting swords. 

 

I think your sword is a good investment simply due to the fantastic condition the mounts and blades are in, they will always be in demand and are desirable to many collectors. The price will not skyrocket like copper handled NCO's or a Mantetsu, but it won't go down either.