Mantetsu ?

[Bruce Pennington]

2 minutes ago, Moley said:

What do good Mantetsu go for

Gwyn,

I agree with you on the box and note.  That's far more elaborate than normal fakers would do.  To get to your question, though, a Mantetsu will fetch at least $1,000 more than an average IJA gunto.  I don't have a good feel for the post-COVID market now, but before COVID they were going for $2,600-3,600 USD.

[vajo]

So it is very unclear?

Is it showa-to (i could not say it from the pictures)

Faked mantetsu

Chiseled stamp fake or not.

 

I'm flummoxed 

 

How much was this sword?

 

Btw i like the box. The sword itself would look good in a display. The quality of the sword is good. The whole condition is nice too.

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

3 minutes ago, vajo said:

flummoxed 

Your flumox-ation is vexing! Ha!  You're going to use that new word every chance you get, aren't you?!

 

I am certain that I'm uncertain about this one.

[vajo]

Haha yes i like that word after i learned it. My son use it too. It sounds so cool 

[Alex1984]

20 minutes ago, vajo said:

So it is very unclear?

Is it showa-to (i could not say it from the pictures)

Faked mantetsu

Chiseled stamp fake or not.

 

I'm flummoxed 

 

How much was this sword?

 

Btw i like the box. The sword itself would look good in a display. The quality of the sword is good. The whole condition is nice too.

 

 

The sword costs 2000 € at the moment. But the seller is in no hurry to part with him. I think it will cost 3000 € ...

[Leen]

Marktplaats is a Dutch eBay like site. People are still bidding and it is indeed around €2000 right now 😉

By the way what does flummoxed mean 😉

 

 

[Brian]

Flummoxed is a mixture of surprise and confusion. For example.. "I am completely flummoxed at why people will send high level swords to amateur polishers"
Basically completely unable to understand.

[Stephen]

NTMOM. I call it real anomaly, remember in gunto never say never. 

[Alex1984]

The sword is registered on the site. I contacted the seller to find out the price for how much the sword was sold. He replied that tomorrow the client will come to see. The amount he will pay is 3500 €. So let's see. Suddenly the person will refuse tomorrow))

[lonely panet]

thats the problem, never say never but when peaple start making good fakes, they devalue the market.

 

but i would say that maybe they purposefully faked the mei on a seki showato, maybe as a small hint. because im sure the peaple doing this new that 99% of all matetsu are suguha

[Bruce Pennington]

Ran the box and tag by the guys at Warrelics HERE..  Results mixed.  They agree the tag is legit.  Nick is bothered by the writing on the box.  He has been tracking a known faker in China, Chiba prefecture, by the name of Kondo.  Nick's comment: "Perhaps the tag is original, but I do not like the writing on the box." with a link to another discussion of his Fake Flags.

 

So, *sigh*, still nothing definitive. 

 

Like I've said on the previous blades of similar problems, all the abnormalities of this blade could be explained simply by the fact that it was a custom job.  So, I will continue tracking them.

[BANGBANGSAN]

1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said:

He has been tracking a known faker in China, Chiba prefecture, by the name of Kondo. 

This 千葉半島住近藤
Chiba-hantō jū Kondo
Kondo of Chiba Peninsula

is in Japan NOT China.

[Bruce Pennington]

37 minutes ago, BANGBANGSAN said:

in Japan NOT China.

Yeow!  That's worse!

[BenVK]

Swords with boxes seems to be the latest fashion on yahoo auctions in Japan.

It's a win win for the sellers, more money for the items and more money they can demand for shipping. 

Buyer beware.

 

 

[16k]

I keep looking at it and I am indeed "flumoxed"... it looks so real for a fake, and yet too good to be true. Still, special orders certainly existed and a special order wouldn’t necessarily  be numbered. If only gut feelings were necessary, I would lean towards genuine. But I’m probably wrong, of course.

 

EDIT: then again, can’t make up my mind. The surface looks like a Koa, yet the Mino Hamon looks oil tempered... aaaaargh! My head!

[Bruce Pennington]

We have been discussing this gunto lately, and after checking my chart, I have 28 "NAN" stamped Mantetsu and none of them are Koa Isshin.  Of the couple hundred Koa on file, none have the NAN stamp.  So, while we "never say never with gunto" I'd say that piece of evidence tilts the scales further toward this being gimei.