Does this katana match its proposed value by seller?

[VRGC]

(sorry if the photos don’t fit the rules but they are from the seller and also and also I may have put this post in the wrong disccussion…) but anyhow, let’s get started haha. 

Hello, I’m looking to purchase this katana but I want to check if its value is correct, seller puts is at €1251,93. Also if it matches the Edo era (before 1868) blades. If you can help me with that, I would be grateful. I have attached the photos below. 

Seller’s description: 

Japan antique sword long KATANA
dynamic blade

 

Hamon is a super beautiful sword from "Togari-Gunome". The width at the base of the blade is 32mm, thick and strong,

and it is a beautiful sword with no damage! This is a masterpiece model with a form that is considered

to be representativeof the high quality of the Shinto era. Hamon is a "Togari-Gunome", a straight blade of Midare-Hamon's magnificent Mumei.

Its linear shape makes the sword appear much longer than it actually is. Of course there is no damage to note. Over the years, the exterior Shirosaya has also naturally changed to the dark brown color of antique food, giving it a dignified atmosphere.

 

Registration date, February 1962, jurisdiction Board of Education,

Length (blade length), 69.6 cm, ( in)

Curve (Sori), 1.0 cm ( in),

Mekugi hole, 1 place

Types of swords, Katana

Inscription (front side) , Mumei (Nameless)

(Back side) none

 

* HABAKI, Old Copper

* MOTOHABA, 32.0 mm,

* MOTOKASANE, 7.5 mm,

* SAKIHABA, 21.0 mm,

* SAKIKASANE, 5.5 mm,

* NAKAGO length, 123 mm, ( in)

* Weighing only swords, 235g, ( oz)

* Production era, Edo era (before1868)
 

[ROKUJURO]

Victor,

the value is difficult to say from photos. The description is a bit strange as they obviouslöy have a little problem with translating. Also, they can't write SHIRASAYA correctly. The given weight for the blade seems wrong to me; a KATANA usually has 700 g or more, and this one is even quite solid with MOTOHABA 32 mm and 7,5 mm MOTOKASANE. That said, the blade may be o.k. if you like the straight SUGATA, probably KANBUN period, and the HAMON.

The market price is what buyers are willing to pay, and for an o.k. blade of the EDO era, the price seems to be on the cheaper side in case there were no hidden KIZU (flaws). 

[BjornLundin]

Is the hamon running out of the blade?

 

I would go for a papered blade, these type of blades is for experts to know if to buy or not. 

[Matsunoki]

8 minutes ago, BjornLundin said:

Is the hamon running out of the blade

I think so. Run away.

[VRGC]

38 minutes ago, BjornLundin said:

Is the hamon running out of the blade?

 

I would go for a papered blade, these type of blades is for experts to know if to buy or not. 

Do you mean that the Hamon touches at one or two spots the edge of the blade?

[BjornLundin]

Hard to say from the photos but it looks like that the hamon goes out from the blade. I think it is called Nioi-gire and is considered a major flaw.

[Matsunoki]

17 minutes ago, VRGC said:

Do you mean that the Hamon touches at one or two spots the edge of the blade?

Actually looks like it drops off totally in some places. Bad news.

[VRGC]

So that means it’s potentially badly re-polished, several times or once badly? Or has the sword been “trimmed” as in material removed too close to the Hamon? If not I don’t understand the significance. 

[BjornLundin]

Could be in the production process (clay/tempering). Significance is that it has no use as a tool or weapon, it has lost its purpose (dead). 

 

 

[VRGC]

1 minute ago, BjornLundin said:

Could be in the production process (clay/tempering). Significance is that it has no use as a tool or weapon, it has lost its purpose (dead). 

 

 

I see, the tempered part of the blade is no longer able to hold a hard edge. 

[Matsunoki]

Hamon should be present for full length of blade and also in kissaki. If it drops off it is often because blade was badly  chipped and reshaped during polish. It is a characteristic of some smiths ( I think) but not on this blade in my inexpert opinion. 
Run away. 
 

[Franco D]

What happens sometimes with nihonto is that the ha/cutting edge gets chipped. When the blade is then polished the ha gets raised up to the level of the deepest chip [in order to remove that chip]. In the areas where the hamon is shallow there is the distinct possibility that the hamon becomes interrupted, a fatal flaw. There is some indication that this may be the case here.

 

Regards

[John C]

5 hours ago, VRGC said:

I see, the tempered part of the blade is no longer able to hold a hard edge. 

Victor:

Here is the term for this type of flaw. Note that it is a fatal flaw, meaning the blade cannot be relied upon to function properly.

 

John C.

[PNSSHOGUN]

You see this quite often with Mino-Den blades, there are Kanemoto swords with basically microns of Hamon left in the valleys.

[nulldevice]

7 hours ago, VRGC said:

So that means it’s potentially badly re-polished, several times or once badly? Or has the sword been “trimmed” as in material removed too close to the Hamon? If not I don’t understand the significance. 

Every time a blade is polished (whether to remove rust, fix a chip, or just renew the shiny surface), metal is removed from the blade. Most nihonto are more or less a sandwich of hard/soft steels with the hardened (tempered) edge in the middle on the cutting edge. The hamon is both a functional transition of this transition from soft to hard steel as well as an artistic expression of the swordsmith in their clay/tempering skills. 

 

After many polishes, an excessive polish (such as one to remove a deep chip/damage to the blade), or work on a blade with an already narrow band of hardened cutting edge, you will either run into the hamon running off of the blade to the edge (as in your case) or in the core steel coming through the hamon higher up in the blade by the shinogi ji. Both of these are considered a fatal flaw as they show a sword that is "tired" i.e. been polished too many times and doesn't retain enough of its hard/soft steel to maintain its function as it was originally in its freshly forged state. 

 

Any blade with a fatal flaw will almost never paper at a shinsa and the collectability and value of the sword goes down drastically.