Need Help Marine Raider WWII bring back sword

[shan]

Richard,Firstly i would like to apologise to you for not believing your intentions,This is not really in my nature but if you read through my first 10-15 posts you will see that I have had very insulting, negative, off topic,downright rude,responces to my postings from this forum as well and maybe i have just picked up bad habits.

If i had seen your responces to replies about the sword before i had clicked the "post reply" button,i would not have been so harsh and for that i am truly sorry Richard.

If you knew how many scams existed around these swords you may understand why i am somewhat sceptical at first.

One of the best conmen in the UK who scammed numerous owners of there high price sports cars and motor Yachts was a "team" of a 76 year old man and his 74 year old wife passing off fake bankers draughts.(so no-one is sacrosanct from suspicion anymore sadly)

Everything else regarding this blade and the motives behind all of my analytical responces have been genuine and were intended to give an indication of the items authenticity as the kamakura smith by comparisons to information supplied(which it appears not to be based on mei examples),

It is a very nice item anyway,hence the words of caution on my last post,Its still likely to be a valuable item and you should get several $1000 for the fittings alone.

If you have had some emailed offers of around $1000 then you will probably know that ,that may just about cover the Tsuba value, so lets hope that none of the $1000 offers came from a member of this forum.(which i am sure they did not because the forum is here to educate people like you and like me and not to gain from our lack of knowledge).

I am sorry that i jumped to any conclusions regarding your intentions and i hope that you can forgive an ill mannered idiot,

The moderators are right it was an ill concieved attack on your integrity and i don`t know why i reacted the way that i did.

If you are lucky enough to get the sword,do what i sugested and get it looked at my someone who has nothing to gain from its valuation or attribution.Polishing it will cost you money and its an expensive thing to do in the USA or Canada.Or sell it to the highest bidder and be done with it.It should make a minimum of $6000 from what i can see and it would not surprize me if it went for a great deal more.(so the offers of $1000 are really quite Appaulingly low IMHO)

I hope you get a great attribution for it and all the best of luck in it realising a properly suitable sum of money for it.

Also My appologies to anyone else i may have offended by being to blunt and jumping to conclusions.

Kindest regards

Shan

[IanB]

Richard, Having now heard the various comments made by other members of this board, I hope you will allow me a few observations. What has been presented to you is a sword mounted in a style called ito maki no tachi that from about 1600 was the only proper sword mount to wear with armour (provided you could afford the cost). The binding around the scabbard not only gave you a good grip when drawing the sword but protected the lacquer and lacing of the armour when the sword was worn on the left hip. Normally the scabbards of these swords are decorated with the owner's heraldic device done in lacquer. The fact this one is not embellished in this way is a somewhat unusual but not unknown. The same heraldry was also used as the major decorative theme on the fittings on these swords. Again this one is not decorated in this way which leads me to believe that the mount may have been after the restoration of the emperor Meiji in the 1860's. Having said that it is a nice looking mount in good condition.

As for the blade, the condition of the tang, the hole through it and the signature do look old. As has been said, there were many smiths who signed Kuniyoshi and it may well be by one of them. However, you should be aware that signatures used by good swordsmiths have been copied by other smiths for many centuries. If the blade is old, and bears an old yet clever copy of a famous signature, it can be difficult to tell. If it is important to ascertain the value for probate purposes then, again as has been said, the opinion of a sword expert should be sought. This cannot really be done from photographs so it means placing it in the expert's hands. I wish you the best of luck with your venture.

Ian Bottomley

[loiner1965]

just a quick word to richard as a newcomer to a newcomer....i have received nothing but helpful advice and its all been very friendly....stick around as all these guys are very knowedgeble and their advice is free..........cannot ask for more than that can we.....big thanks to all who have helped me and to those i havent asked yet :D

[suwanneetrader]

:D Shan: Apology accepted and I do understand. Hope you have a good day and fun collecting, as I have for the past 50 years. Richard M.

[Guido]

:D

[Ford Hallam]

I would add that I agree with Ian B in his opinion that the mounts may be as late as Meiji period. The style of engraving ( kata-kiri ) in that very flowing and loose way is a fairly good pointer for me in that respect. With that in mind I'd be somewhat doubtful of the blade having any real value, or age. I wouldn't go for this with your money

 

I also think Shan has in fact made some valid points

 

regards,

 

Ford

[Ed]

Reading this post I am amazed by the amount of speculation contained herein.

 

There is no way one could confirm the validity of this mei or the quality/value of this sword based on the photos provided. It could be a valuable sword, the key words here being "could be". It could be a potentially valuable sword with fatal flaws which would render it worthless, the key words here are "could be". The mountings do look newer, but that too means nothing. Could be it was remounted at a later date, again "could be". Could be if cows sh*t buttermilk there would be no need for a churn.

 

Some of you need to return to Earth and clear the fog which seems to have overcome ye. You remind me of Pavlov's dog. Hawley's lists over 100 "kuniyoshi" smiths. Granted without much difficulty quite a few could be eliminated. However, we could speculate forever, but the only way to know with relative certainty is via shinsa. It's condition based on the photos would seem to indicate a need for polish prior to shinsa. That means along with turn around time for polish, polish(and it's risks) and shinsa fees, add shirasaya and most likely new habaki to your initial investment equals several thousand dollars, time and risk. Granted it does have possible potential, but judging only from the photos provided and without at least the benefit of "in hand" inspection is pointless.

 

Bottom line it needs to be inspected in hand to evaluate whether or not it warrants polish. If so, polished in order to evaluate whether or not it's condition warrants Shinsa. If so, sent to shinsa for an accurate determination and or legitimacy of the mei which will aid in determining potential value.

[Stephen]

Reading this post I am amazed by the amount of speculation contained herein.

 

 

Ed has said it all for me, except from the looks of the pix a Shinsa team should be able to tell from it in hand, id wait for one in Chi town or the twin cities then have it looked at by the pros. it may well be worth the wait.

[drbvac]

I agree and the speculation on the attribution may be just speculation on the price. Get it checked and if not -- I think its 20 years old and will give you $2000,00 for it right now :lol:

[shan]

Forgive me again in advance.

It is worth noting that these are individual views and opinions based on the available information supplied and are meant to assist and help to inform in an analytical and collaborative way without actually stating the item definatly is something or is definatly not something.

The final decision on how far to take this item (or indeed any item) then rests with the owner,who having known nothing to begin with ,now has several differing opinions to pick through ,put together and determine his (or her) next course of action.

I believe the entire forum has succeded in this in a round about way.

I have been told to keep these posts short so...

Good job guys...the original poster of this question, is now much better informed to make a decision.

Regards

shan

[kusunokimasahige]

Quote OP:

 

"The sword is no longer in my possession so no more photos at this time"

 

KM