A dummy's question

[goose710]

Gentlemen

I have a not so ordinary question. As i've aquired nihonto ( 11 so far) and am getting up there in age, how would you suggest my wife, if she survives me(who knows less than me) handle disposal of my acumulated nihonto? She is incapable of caring for them, oiling them. They are not national treasures but, are not junk either. I'd hate to have them meet a bad end,ie rusted, or sold for next to nothing.

would you care to list some reputable dealers? or maybe a course of action for her?

if you find this post inapproriate delete.

Charles L. Grusovnik

aka goose710

[John A Stuart]

Hi Charles, I have had the same thought from time to time. My sons are not interested enough and my daughter even less so. My grandson, maybe. I had thought that some of my better stuff might interest a museum that caters to arms armour. It is a worry. John

[hybridfiat]

  goose710 said:

Gentlemen

I have a not so ordinary question. As i've aquired nihonto ( 11 so far) and am getting up there in age, how would you suggest my wife, if she survives me(who knows less than me) handle disposal of my acumulated nihonto? She is incapable of caring for them, oiling them. They are not national treasures but, are not junk either. I'd hate to have them meet a bad end,ie rusted, or sold for next to nothing.

would you care to list some reputable dealers? or maybe a course of action for her?

if you find this post inapproriate delete.

Charles L. Grusovnik

aka goose710

 

Not a silly question at all. We are after all only the temporary curators of these historical artifacts.

A museum is an excellent choice if they have the expertise to care for them. Not all museums do unfortunately.

That choice would mean more people get to appreciate them.

[Gabriel L]

Send them to me.

 

Seriously though... if you have no friends interested in nihonto (and who could care for them), then you have to ask what stranger you want to benefit from them (via ownership or selling). Not many museums know how to properly care for nihonto, so if you choose to donate make sure it is to one with the proper expertise.

 

One solution I can imagine is compensating a good dealer for selling them on commission and sending your share of the proceeds to the beneficiaries of your choice.

 

This way the dealer is motivated by his commission percentage and has the knowledge to sell at the best price, while your beneficiaries get the bulk of the profit. The dealer's opportunity to sell the collection in the first place would be predicated accepting the terms of the will, so your executor would have the legal authority to ensure proper distribution of the proceeds. This would obviously be aided if you could document your entire collection to the best of your ability now, and make arrangements for their proper shipping, etc. Including some kind of price documentation would be helpful - how much did you buy each for? Etc.

 

Choosing which dealer(s) (or auction house, I suppose) would depend on working out appropriate terms, knowing who in the field is reputable, etc. I don't feel comfortable making direct recommendations on this point and I think it is something you should research yourself. There is a commercial links section to this site you might start with.

 

Please note I am no lawyer and the above does not represent any form of legal counsel; it's just ideas that I would research if I was in your shoes. I welcome anyone who knows what they are talking about to set me straight on any of the above.

 

-GLL

[goose710]

Thank you.

I have the supposed value(bought for price) + any upgrades for each unit listed in my safe. I did this to give whomsoever must exicute my estate an idea of the values involved. I understand the fluctuations of the market(like right now).

I like your idea of having a dealer on commission sell them makes sense, higher sale/higher commission= motavation.

I also left a list of the people i bought them from, she could contact them and see if they could arrange a commission sale. That might work also.

The nihonto is by no means the bulk of my estate, but as i said i'd hate to see them lost, or my wife taken advantage of. Could be i must make an effort to educate my wife better,but then she'll know how much i spent!!(kidding)

Thank You again for your thoughts on this subject

Charles L. Grusovnik

aka goose710

[b.hennick]

This is an interesting question that all of us have to face. My solution is to reduce the number of blades in my collection and to increase the quality. I am happy to trade up even if that means adding cash or more swords. I hope to reduce the size of my collection over time. I have a list of what I think the swords are worth. I have friends who I trust to do the best for my estate when the time comes.

The benefit of upgrading is that I get to enjoy fine pieces. As for dealers they are entitled to earn a decent commission. There are good ones and not so good ones. The quality of your blades may be a factor in determining which dealer would be appropriate for your collection. Doing nothing is the worst thing to do.

[Grey Doffin]

And donating to a museum would be the second worst. Only the Boston MFA and New York's Metropolitan have serious Nihonto collections and they probably wouldn't be interested in anything you would have to donate. At any other museum the swords would rot in the basement.

There are many Japanese sword dealers in the US, some of them honest, knowledgeable, and competent. You're on the right track. You need to find the right dealer and make arrangements before it's too late.

In my somewhat humble opinion. Grey

[jrs]

As much as having a museum worthy collection apeals to my vanity, I would not donate to a museum. I would much rather put the blades into the hands of true collectors/students that will appreciate and care for them.

 

On a slightly different topic, what do some of the more serious collectors do about insurance. Do you put the blades on a homeowner's policy or do you have seperate policies for the pieces, and if so, what companies are good with nihonto? Also, for security, is a gun safe an ok decision? I have seen gun safes used, one time in a walk in vault. I don't have that kind of square footage. What is the best option for home security?

 

James S.

[Bugyotsuji]

James,

 

You don't mention where you are in the world, but climate would be a factor in answering your question about storage.

 

On the antiques roadshow in the UK they seem to advise insuring for the top price, ie what you paid for it, regardless of its value to a dealer, so that you would get your money back in case something happened to the article.

 

I have heard of cases where a dealer sells a sword for 10,000 to a customer, but buys it back for 3,000, so that he can then sell it again to someone else for 10,000. The sword will go round and round, netting him 7,000 each time it completes a full circle. An exaggerated illustration I am sure, and the price each time will obviously be affected by bargaining, but it helps me to keep a clear picture of what my swords are 'worth'.

[Bungo]

since you are in jersey.............. the closest one i can think of is BIG Mo, he's in new York and i have consigned things to him before and have no problem.

 

milt

[Gabriel L]

  Bungo said:

since you are in jersey.............. the closest one i can think of is BIG Mo, he's in new York and i have consigned things to him before and have no problem.

 

That's Moses Becerra, for Charles's information (and those of us who don't speak "Milt" :lol:).

[goose710]

Thank You for that clarification , i was a bit lost on that one

Charles L. Grusovnik

aka goose710

[Stephen]

  Quote

The sword will go round and round, netting him 7,000 each time it completes a full circle.

 

 

Bugs your saying the Ponzie has been around a long time huh.

[Rich S]

If you should go the auction route, stay away from Freeman's in Philadelphia. I had them sell part of my lacquer collection and a couple

low end swords at the suggestion of a local antiques dealer who I

respect. They were awful. Poor descriptions, huge groupings, no oshigata

or pics of the blade, just a tiny pic of the sword in koshirae. Getting back

the unsold stuff took for ever and several of the pieces of lacquer were

damaged. The antique dealer has also had recently bad experiences with

them also. Basically they don't know anything about Japanese stuff and

have no idea how to put together a catalog to sell same.

 

Rich S

[Grey Doffin]

I would stay away from all auctions for your swords. Unless you have something very important, a big auction house will just shunt them off to one of their secondary, dealer's auctions. A lesser auction house isn't likely to have the expertise to describe them correctly and give them the exposure you want for them.

I think you're better off with the right sword dealer.

Grey