Japanese World War 2 Sword Help

[leobrb]

Hello

 

I am new to this forum and have been an abide World War 2 collector for many years. I am interested in getting my hands on any sort of Shin Gunto World War 2 sword. I have been doing my research on what makes a sword authentic with serial numbers and stamps however I do not want to buy a fake sword. I do not want to spend more that around $750 and know that a lot of fake stuff is on ebay. If anyone has any auctions they see on ebay that are legit or know a good place to get authentic swords it would be a great help. These are some ebay swords I found that caught my eye but im not sure if they are real or not.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ww2-Japanese-sword/264303290511(has stamps and serial number but kinda fishy)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WW2-era-type-98-KYU-GUNTO-With-Leather-Sheath/173846683675 (definitely not a kyu gunto but not sure what it is. the flag on the habiki looks fake)

 

Thanks for the help and I hope I can be a good member of the community

[ChrisW]

It depends on what you're wanting and your budget. At $750, you might expect to reasonably obtain a machine-made blade or you might really struggle. For nontraditional, it goes up from there. For full-on traditional (kai gunto), it varies widely on smith and quality/condition. Kai guntos can easily run several thousands. As for the kind you mentioned, Kyu Gunto? They can run a wide gamut as they come in both traditional and non-traditional machine-made blades in both katana and wakizashi sizes. But their mountings are characteristically western in style such as this one here:

 

 

http://yakiba.com/Koshirae_D-Ring.htm(koshirae only, blade is a tsunagi "placeholder")

 

I would suggest either dealing with Ed @Yakiba or one of our many members here. They do pop up now and then and you can expect to be treated well here. But if you're looking to only spend $750, it might be hard at that range for even a machine-made.

 

 

Also, please make sure you make a signature with your name in it so members know how to address you! Forum rules.

[PNSSHOGUN]

For $750 you will have to compromise or get lucky, average price for good condition Shin Gunto is around $1000 these days. Keep an eye on the classifieds here and you might see a bargain.

[leobrb]

Thanks for the replies, a machine made authentic blade would be more than fine. I am just looking for some authentic ww2 era swords.  

[Bruce Pennington]

Is it "Leo"? Need to go to settings and post a name for us, thanks.

 

Both your examples are poor fakes, so it's a good thing you asked first!

 

I agree with John that you CAN find something for $750, but not something in great shape. Even the NCO blades have gone up in the past year. You can find some Type 32s and Type 19s under that price.

 

Both of Chris's recommendations are great. The auction houses I've shopped tend to sell at top dollar, so I doubt you'll get anything cheap that way.

Crimson Mist sometimes has some reasonably price gunto: http://www.cmmilitaryantiques.com/search.php?pcat=3

 

Gunto Art Swords have quality gunto, but prices usually reflect that (I have bought 2 from him, at above market rates, but both were fabulous and I HAD to have them!): http://www.guntoartswords.com

 

Here is one that is legit (I had to search through 4 fakes before I found this one!) https://www.ebay.com/itm/EXCELLENT-WWII-Japanese-Samurai-Sword-NCO-SHIN-GUNTO-Katana-World-War-2-BLADE/223497999128?hash=item340984d318:g:Oe0AAOSwUvVcxSFN&redirect=mobile

[IJASWORDS]

Save up maybe $1250, and you could buy some thing that is half decent. You will regret a cheap sword at $750.    

[vajo]

Nihonto Collector (Luis) is selling a nice NCO Sword here in the sales thread for a very good price.

[zook]

My opinion only  - but an NCO sword, as mentioned above is an ideal starting place for several reasons, and roughly within the price range you mention … condition is a big driver with the cost of NCO swords.    A superb condition NCO sword now catching over 1,000 USD …. but you can get one in decent shape on the "bay" for less than that.    This group can help you vet them out (2nd opinions) if you wish.   Dan