is it authentic?

[William Jennings]

Hello all, I'm still fairly new to collecting and  I was wondering if I could get your opinions on this sword, specifically if it is real or fake. I guessed it was real but there is no mekugi to pull to view the nakago. what do you all think? Thanks in advance....

[William Jennings]

[William Jennings]

[William Jennings]

[Ray Singer]

Looks authentic. See examples below of white line. 

 

 

[Lee Bray]

The kissaki suggests it is a real Nihonto but I think you'll get no more info on school or period from these photos.
The handle is knot Japanese(lol , sorry).

 

[lonely panet]

The tsuba looks heian

[William Jennings]

Okay! Thank you all! Any estimate on a possible value?

[Rivkin]

Far away from my specialty, but I would think this is Vietnamese or from roughly the same region. Authentic. Possibly with Japanese blade, in which it will still have a drastically reworked and shortened nakago to accomodate a difference in style.

[Jacques]

I don't like the kissaki, its geometry is not correct but I could be wrong

[Shugyosha]

1 hour ago, Jacques D. said:

 but I could be wrong

 

[aabderson]

Is the Tsuba real? It seems pretty crude and simple to me.

[lonely panet]

6 hours ago, aabderson said:

Is the Tsuba real? It seems pretty crude and simple to me.

Its in the shape of early tsuba

[aabderson]

Here are more pics. It seems to be round, not oval. @lonely panet

[aabderson]

[aabderson]

[Rivkin]

Japanese-like swords of the Continent are much lesser known than Japanese per se and I am definitely not very knowledgeable on those, but:

Round/sometimes slightly elongated, tosho-like very large tsubas are usually Korean. It looks a bit recent (WWII?).

Korean hilts tend to be longer which is why I was more inclined towards Vietnam at first. The knot wrapping is as was indicated above is later adoption and the whole assembly could be XXth century, though I think using an authentic blade and done not with the purpose to create a souvenir.

Unfortunately the market for such blades is poor. I personally is interested but maybe its because my understanding of the subject is lacking.