Advise on wakizashi

[Jon]

  On 10/25/2023 at 4:38 PM, Baba Yaga said:

was at a SF sword show when this young guy yells out he had $10K and wanted to buy a sword.

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Now I have the image of that scene in the film trading places…where they scream “buying” in orange juice trading pit…love that film.

[tyrion67]

hello,

a new one in my budget... (I'm staying in the same topic to avoid spreading myself too widely over the forum, I hope it doesn't get in the way)

It's a tanto this time, here's the information I have: 
 

  Quote

 

Hira-zukuri Tanto in Shirasaya,
With JASMK certification,
Mumei so unsigned attributed to 会津兼定 Aizu Kanesada

As the photos show, this particular blade has a beautiful Hamon with a clean Jigane showing the excellent skill of the smith. No catastrophic damage or imperfections were observed, overall in very good condition for collecting or study.

 

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I found the hamon strange, or it's just my lack of knowledge ?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

[Jon]

  On 10/28/2023 at 1:33 PM, tyrion67 said:

a new one

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Hi, this is probably the nicest Nihonto you have posted. 
 

Smith wise the Kanesada swordsmiths are well know with a lot of information. The Aizu Kanesada were a branch of the Kanesada smiths with 11 generations from from 1556 when the 4th generation Kanesada moved to Aizu, with the last 11th generation smith working into the 20c.

 

The papers ( JASMK certification) are issued by a sword merchant in Japan, it’s not a bad indicator of what you are getting. It’s not Hozen papers so they don’t have a market value themselves and are not a gold standard..but give you the opinion of someone who does know Japanese swords and are a nice to have and as you know the school of smiths and the branch gives you some foundation for study.

 

The blade seems to be in reasonable condition and Polish, there seems to be a mark on the kissaki, Price wise its what I have paid for equivalent condition Tantos with hozon papers, but I then had to pay 5% import charge..so slightly less than what I paired for an equivalent blade with papers ( but hozon papers do add value and make it easer to sell).

 

it may be worth trying to ask for a closer picture of the mark in the kissaki and using the mark to seeing if you can get a bit  of a price reduction..if you can get a reduction of 10-15% it’s probably a reasonable deal for a first Nihonto. 
 

All in all I’m not seeing any red flags…it’s a budget Nihonto in Polish that will make a reasonable first piece to study…so it’s all about the price and getting it as cheap as you can. But I’m only a couple of years into the hobby so get some wiser views than mine.

[Mark S.]

  On 10/28/2023 at 1:33 PM, tyrion67 said:

 

I found the hamon strange, or it's just my lack of knowledge ?

 

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As you didn’t explain what you mean by ‘strange’, my following statements are a bit of a guess.  I think what you see as strange is the difference between the actual hamon and the hadori polish… it may look almost like ‘two hamons?’  It is fairly common especially with a heavier hadori polish to have some difficulty seeing some of the activities until you can differentiate between the two.

[tyrion67]

  On 10/28/2023 at 5:22 PM, Jon said:

Hi, this is probably the nicest Nihonto you have posted. 
 

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  I'm slowly learning which blades aren't even worthy of being presented to you for review!

 

I took fewer risks with this one, since it comes with a certificate, even if it's not official.
I'll eventually ask for more details on the kissaki.
Nevertheless, a tanto wasn't my first choice, I was more inclined towards a wakizashi, but you never know.
This one is sold for 700€, I don't know if that's a fair price for a Tanto in this condition?

 

 

  On 10/28/2023 at 5:51 PM, Mark S. said:

As you didn’t explain what you mean by ‘strange’, my following statements are a bit of a guess.  I think what you see as strange is the difference between the actual hamon and the hadori polish… it may look almost like ‘two hamons?’  It is fairly common especially with a heavier hadori polish to have some difficulty seeing some of the activities until you can differentiate between the two.

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Bingo, yes, I also thought of a polishing specificity.
It may be a common look, but I have to admit that it bothers me a little...

[Jon]

  On 10/28/2023 at 6:12 PM, tyrion67 said:

This one is sold for 700€, I don't know if that's a fair price for a Tanto in this condition

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Always difficult as something is worth what someone will pay for it. So all I can say is would I pay £610 ( 700eu)..if it had a hozon paper then yes I would, without, probably not that much…but I tend to put quite a price on have a hozon papered blade as a minimum…as it’s a first blade you would properly end up studying and selling on so making sure you get your money back is important…iI would think if you got it for 575-600eu you would get your money back in a sale……but it’s aways iffy

[Baba Yaga]

This is amusing! The polish on that Tanto is NOT done by any of the top 10 polishers. What I see is you're trying to learn by posting a bunch of photos of lowball swords for sale in your price range. I sagest you start reading more about swords and keep your wallet closed for a bit. Learn more and think about it for a bit more time. 

 

[tyrion67]

  On 10/28/2023 at 6:41 PM, Baba Yaga said:

This is amusing! The polish on that Tanto is NOT done by any of the top 10 polishers. What I see is you're trying to learn by posting a bunch of photos of lowball swords for sale in your price range. I sagest you start reading more about swords and keep your wallet closed for a bit. Learn more and think about it for a bit more time. 

 

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Yes, for me, posting photos on an exchange forum was a way of learning (in addition to what I could read and study on the side).

Documentation, while crucial, is sometimes less responsive than a live forum...

 

But I understand your point of view, I'll keep my wallet closed as you say, and go back to my beloved studies and stop boring you with my low-end blades.

 

[2devnul]

Hi,

 

In my opinion, this Tanto is worth 700EUR. As always, if you want to re-sell, there is demand and supply rule in place. So you never know how much you can earn/lose.  

 

JASMK certificate for me is also acceptable and ensures you this is genuine Nihonto. 

https://jasmk.jp/info/index.html

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Keep posting blades, however don't focus on the price for now and focus more on what you would like in a Japanese sword. This a past-time that can quickly turn cash into crap. 

[2devnul]

  On 10/30/2023 at 9:16 AM, PNSSHOGUN said:

Keep posting blades, however don't focus on the price for now and focus more on what you would like in a Japanese sword...

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I fully agree with @PNSSHOGUN here.

@tyrion67 ask yourself what do you look for. An investment, profit, sword just for you and your collection, etc.?

I can point again my forum thread about Hojoji Sadahiro Gimei which I bought. No papers, Gimei, definitely overpriced ( I paid 1500$). So why I bought it? Because I like it, I want to have it in my collection, I'm not planning to sell it (further more, earn on it). 

 

My personal approach is that there are swords you want to:

1. Study and resell. 

2. Resell with income as it's a bargain. 

3. Keep as investment.  

4. Keep it for yourself without plans of reselling (here is where matter becomes really subjective) 

 

[tyrion67]

  On 10/30/2023 at 9:38 AM, 2devnul said:

 

I fully agree with @PNSSHOGUN here.

@tyrion67 ask yourself what do you look for. An investment, profit, sword just for you and your collection, etc.?

I can point again my forum thread about Hojoji Sadahiro Gimei which I bought. No papers, Gimei, definitely overpriced ( I paid 1500$). So why I bought it? Because I like it, I want to have it in my collection, I'm not planning to sell it (further more, earn on it). 

 

My personal approach is that there are swords you want to:

1. Study and resell. 

2. Resell with income as it's a bargain. 

3. Keep as investment.  

4. Keep it for yourself without plans of reselling (here is where matter becomes really subjective) 

 

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thank you for your encouragement.
I'm taking a break from research for the time being, and I'm still concentrating on studying and documenting.
I'll get back to researching once I've narrowed down what I'm looking for, although I imagine it'll be on a whim.

 

I always buy my pieces for myself, with no intention of reselling. I'm not interested in speculation or resale (and have no time for that).

As a result, I'm always looking for the piece that really suits me, which can take some time. 

Thank you very much