Newbie question - would this be a good first sword?

[wisp]

Hi all,

I have been lurking for a week or two now and have been reading up on as much info online as I can find.

 

I am new to nihonto, but am a collector of other ehtnographic edged weapons (and yes, am a member of the 'other sword forum') - as such, my interests are pretty diverse.

 

The sword I am interested in is here: http://www.antiqueswords.com/bq456.htm and while is it certainly nowhere near full polish, it does seem to have reasonable (if not flashy) koshirae, with the exception of the mismatched seppa.

 

I am not really interested at this point in a blade that I can only keep in shirasaya for fear of scratching it - I very much see the mounts as part of the piece.

 

Comments would be most welcome as to suitability, quality, price, merchant, etc...

 

Thank you for maintaining such an excellent resource.

 

Best Regards,

[Grey Doffin]

Joshua,

The blade is in very rough condition. I see areas of loose grain or openings, plenty of pitting from corrosion, and chips in the edge. The polish is completely shot. The mounts aren't anything special. The price is about twice what I'd expect for an unsigned Shinto wakizashi in that condition.

You would do better to spend your money on books and attending sword shows to learn what to collect. Unless you're looking for a wall hanger and nothing more I doubt you'd be happy with the sword.

Just my opinion; worth what I charge for it. Grey

[wisp]

Hi Grey,

Thank you for the reply. I will keep looking (and learning)

 

Best Regards,

j.

[pcfarrar]

How about this?

 

Not a bad beginners sword for the price.

 

https://www.aoi-art.com/auction/en/auct ... 1141534367

[David Flynn]

Depends on how much you want to spend. However, if you can push it, the sword from Aoi, is much better value

[wisp]

That is a beautiful piece and I am reminded of one of the other forum members (the mantis guy), as I definitely have an affinity for dragonflies. I saw that it was Syowa (=Showa?) period, which means later than 1926 - but is certainly not in ww2 mounts. What is the general opinion of blades from this period? and given its mounts, is it likely pre 1941?

 

(torn between wanting something old and wanting something nice)

 

thank you in advance.

j.

 

PS: what is the basic process for buying from Aoi? shipping reliable? customs? I have never purchased anything from overseas, much less anything of this value.

[wisp]

or, how dow I get rid of all those question marks and see kanji?

 

I have tried ISO-2022-JP, Shift_JIS, EUC-JP and none of them seem to work (not that I can read kanji.... but)

 

thanks,

j.

[David Flynn]

The sword was problably remounted. The fittings appear to be lower class antique

[Rabro]

I have a shinto sword in full polish that I will sell you for less than the price of this one. It was my first sword.

There are fotos at http://www.esnips.com/web/Shinto

Roger