Mei Translation Help Please

[Giscard]

Hi,

 

I'm very new to Japanese swords, although I've been collecting European for quite a while, so please forgive any lack of knowledge of the basic terminology.  I picked one up today from a seller who had acquired a collection at a knock-down price but didn't really know anything about the individual blades.  I picked one out because I liked the patterning on the blade and because I wanted a little research project, but I seem to be stumbling at the first post with the Mei translation.  The characters appear to be somewhat more simplistic than the signatures I have seen in other posts, so perhaps a problematic feature?  Anyway, photos below.

 

[Ray Singer]

Unfortunately not authentic. Please see the link below.

 

http://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

[Giscard]

Thanks for the quick reply!  A little research tells me the blade patterning should have been a dead giveaway but at least it was a fairly inexpensive lesson!

[Surfson]

Yes, please don't be discouraged.  Find a beautiful authentic Japanese sword and you will find that they are enthralling.