17th century tachi/katana FS on ebay

[mercierarmory]

I know this part of the forum is for discussion of ebay auctions but I don't know if it's appropriate to post a link to the sword I'm selling. I hate to do it, but my truck's engine died and had to be replaced. Therefore, I have to sell the sword.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Late-17th-century-J ... 0223854905

[zuiho]

Hello,

Nice sword that you offer. I might date it a century earlier, though. The general history of nihonto would imply few swords of such length were being made in

the late 16oo's. The shape does not adhere to the popular style of that time, either, if my references are to be believed.

The 4 notches on the nakago are definitely intriguing as I have a wakizashi with 4 similar notches filed into its nakago. However, the sword is of an entirely

different style than yours and I believe it is koto.

If anyone on this forum has any knowledge of the significance of such notches I would be most happy to hear about it.

 

William G.

[mercierarmory]

Thanks for the comments. It is a wonderful sword and only the 2nd Japanese weapon I have owned. It truely hurts me to part with it, but as I'm sure a lot of you know, sometimes other situations take priority.

 

I am quite intrigued by the leather covered saya. It is very unique and I haven't really heard of any other examples like this. This sword as well as a WWII field grade officers katana I have (and 2 Filipino blades) were all bringbacks from the same US veteran. I didn't want to break them up, but I know someone out there will enjoy the sword and I hope that if they decide to get it polished that I can get some pictures of it when it's finished. That was my original plan.

 

Mike

[mercierarmory]

Well, it sold for $1425. Close to what I was looking to get I suppose.

 

Now the question is if I want to sell the shin-gunto with the Ando Kanemoto signed blade. I reallllly want to keep that one if I can.

 

Mike