Help with Translation

[lnf]

I attempted to translate the characters in the attached picture. Here is what I came up with:

 

兼元

Kane Moto

 

Thanks,

 

Larry

 

[SteveM]

Hello Larry - you are correct. Kanemoto 兼元. 

Beware of forgeries. Kanemoto is known as one of the most forged signatures among all smiths. 

[lnf]

Thanks so much for the reply! I noticed in the swordsmith database @ https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths that there are a large number of smiths with this name.

 

[SteveM]

Yes - a ton of Kanemoto smiths. A ton of Kanemoto forgeries.

If possible, forget about the signature for now, and concentrate on your sword: shape, hamon, steel, etc...