Stolen Sword

[Jim Manley]

Sadly I must report another stolen sword during shipment by the US Postal Service.  This katana went missing from the Salt Lake City USPS distribution Center in early May.  It is possibly still in this area or along the West Coast.  The blade is a signed Naotane, in shira saya. Additionally there is Saya gaki by Tonobe Sensei stating the blade is Gimei and the work of notorious forger Kajihei.  As I collect this smith & school the piece was of particular interest to me. I will gladly reimburse any fellow collector plus a generous reward for its recovery.  Feel free to PM me with any information you might have. 

[French nihonto]

This is happening more and more often. I wonder what happens to all these blades…

[Franco D]

Could you please tell us which USPS service was used?

Registered mail?

Express?

Other?

 

Thank you.

 

Regards

[Schneeds]

Some jurisdictions require and maintain pawnshop databases for sales. If USPS is confident it's missing out of Salt Lake you could call their PD and ask if they have the ability to search pawn shops. Most cops I know would put in some effort for a stolen antique weapon. 

 

I would also start checking local FB and Craigslist ads for that area. And Ebay. 

 

USPS has their own investigative agency, but I wouldn't hold my breath there. 

 

Edit:  I just realized this happened in May. That's a pretty big time lapse. When did USPS become aware it was stolen?

[Schneeds]

50 minutes ago, French nihonto said:

This is happening more and more often. I wonder what happens to all these 

I can't say for certain with swords,  but in general with high price niche items when thieves know what they have, they are looking for in person sales and will travel quite a ways for it. 

 

I once had a guy stealing John Deere GPS units and traveling all over the Midwest to sell them.  A suspicious buyer finally led us to him. 

[Alex A]

Stupid question maybe, is there no way of sending stuff more securely with a private courier within the US?

[Franco D]

9 hours ago, Alex A said:

 is there no way of sending stuff more securely with a private courier within the US?

 

Not really.

 

While not absolutely full proof, the securest way to ship a sword in the U.S. has always been via USPS registered mail.

Why?

It's because the package first of all must be wrapped according to standard, so that all seams can be stamped with a seal to deter tampering. Next, the package then travels under lock and key the entire way and must be signed for by everyone that handles that package in addition to being tracked the entire trip. The package must be signed for at the time of delivery. Travel time is considerably longer (and it costs much more) than it used to be now that Trump appointed and Biden kept De Joy who is running things. 

None the less, it is, or at least was, the safest/secure way to ship.

 

The second safest way to ship a sword is/was via overnight USPS Express mail when it is guaranteed to arrive the next day by a given time. Why?

The package is tracked and must be signed for, and it doesn't sit around waiting for prying eyes. 

Each post office has a cutoff time for express mail. If one arrives ready to go just before that cutoff time that also ensures the package isn't sitting around for long.  Do not ship the package if next day isn't guaranteed.

 

Again, nothing is full proof.

 

Regards

[Brian]

I would not ship a sword overseas without a hidden AirTag nowadays. Eeasy enough to hide one somewhere.

[Kanenaga]

We should keep an eye out for it at the SF show in 3 weeks.

[Alex A]

Personally, think the days of sending EXPENSIVE antique swords by the usual couriers has come to an end, that's just my opinion.

 

Not wanting to rub salt in wounds, really mean that but if i was to send a real expensive sword, wouldn't be looking to use UPS etc.

 

Only sent one real expensive sword (for me) quite a few years ago via parcelforce and it was one big worry from beginning to end.

 

There's just too much that can go wrong with theft and damage, not forgetting customs.

 

If i were to send one nowadays, would be looking to use specialist shippers.

 

Expensive, but with valuable antiques, that's what i would do. Better paying over the odds with shipping than throwing thousands away.

 

Spoke with a specialist arms shipper last year, he wanted £400 to send a pistol to the US. The pistol (£1700) it was not worth it but for a sword worth £4k upwards than to me its acceptable. I would certainly pay that if i was a receiving customer, just for piece of mind. He did say he would ship swords. Buyer picks up from the nearest airport, clears customs. 

 

Quickly looked online for specialist antiques shippers in the US, maybe folks could look into using something along these lines.

Antique Shipping | Navis Pack & Ship (gonavis.com)

 

Being honest, in this day and age, to me it don't make sense using the usual couriers, too unreliable and always have been.

 

Maybe one day get pushed into using them anyways, we have in the UK with regards using private couriers instead

 

Times are changing.

 

[Lewis B]

If I ship a sword back to Japan for Juyo Shinsa next year I plan to use a specialist. It will mean a drive to Sweden which isn't too far from Northern Germany but for piece of mind I'm more than happy to pay extra for security back and forth and have them deal with the NBTHK submission process, registration in Japan etc. 

[MikeyJ]

My success rate for receiving items shipped from Japan to the US is 85% over the past two years. 

 

About one year ago a Tanto was last seen "EMS submitted to US Customs" (JFK). US Customs said they never received it. After a lot of finger pointing, EMS paid the claim (to the seller, not to me). It was a hassle, and seller wasn't helpful at all. Never bought from his shop again. 

 

Second item was a nice Koshirae pole for a Naginata, shipped via FedEx. It was last seen "arrival scan Nashville." FedEx said it must have been lost in their warehouse, FedEx paid the insurance claim (to the seller), which was only for a fraction of replacement cost. 

 

My takeaways, 1) use well-established dealers only, 2) make sure the insurance value is US replacement cost, 3) pay with credit card so if necessary you can dispute charge (for example, seller keeps your payment, and also keeps insurance payment for an item you never received).

 

 

[Alex A]

85% success rate sucks, to be honest. 

 

Good advice.

 

Would only do bank transfer with known and trusted dealers, not many really.

 

Having a tanto made in Japan at the moment. They say if they cant deliver it due to courier issues, they will drop it here themselves, that's service.

[Schneeds]

85% is horrific. Imagine being told the new car you just ordered has a 15% of being stolen. I had no idea shipping overseas was this perilous.  

 

Do dealers typically undervalue the insurance?

[atm]

I am hoping that @Jim Manley can add more details. This is troubling, especially as a Salt Lake City resident expecting two swords from Japan in the next month. Thankfully, I have previously received three swords from Japan via EMS without issues. Once they cleared customs in Chicago, they were all delivered to me the next day by a post office employee separate from my regular mail carrier.

 

I will have the two swords added to my valuable property insurance before they ship, since their individual values are greater than the EMS insurance limit. Of course, that would not replace these swords that are irreplaceable, but I can at least protect against the financial loss.

[Alex A]

13 hours ago, Schneeds said:

 

 

Do dealers typically undervalue the insurance?

 

Would say no, not from Japan.

 

What happens is buyers ask for lower shipping quotes so that means less insurance cover. The fault then lies with the buyer who is out of pocket should an item get lost or stolen.

 

My experience is folks really do not like to pay extra for insurance, as what could be a £60 tracked service can easily turn into a £300 plus service.

 

Depends on the item and how valuable it is verses risk.

 

Ps, Our service, when still delivering swords did not insure antiques anyways.

 

A good few years ago when they did insure, that's when things got expensive. Not so far off the price of specialist shippers i mentioned earlier.

[Brian]

I don't think it's for less insurance. Many countries (including SA) mandate vat (15% even on antiques) and then arbitrarily decide to ignore the antiques declaration and insist of 25-30% duties in addition.
That can work out to a large chunk of change.
For vat, they don't work on 15% of the value, but of the value + 10% (supposedly to compensate for "currency fluctuations") so they are essentially just a legal scam.

[atm]

23 hours ago, Schneeds said:

Do dealers typically undervalue the insurance?

Japan Post EMS insurance limit is 2,000,000 JPY, and that costs under 5000 JPY to obtain. But a sword valued at more than the insurance limit obviously carries a risk of loss during shipping unless there is supplemental insurance. And then you need to ensure that the supplemental insurance covers items lost or damaged in transit.

[Jim Manley]

Sorry for the delay. The sword was shipped registered mail from Japan. It was mistakenly shipped to my PO Box in Jackson, WY I had a hold mail request in place as I was going to be away for 6 weeks. The tracking no. Showed the delivery to Jackson. I made dozens of calls to the post office none of which were answered. In spite of the hold mail order the post office sent the blade back to Japan two days before I returned. It went missing in Salt Lake. I initiated a missing parcel search and met with the Jackson post master on several occasions.  In summary the post office is at best indifferent.  I have not given up hope that it was placed in the wrong container or ?. But it has been nearly 3 months. The tracking number has not been scanned in the interim. Theft appears the most likely scenario. If the package were somewhere in the USPS system the tracking no.would reappear. 
‘I’ll have flyers in San Fran and will answer any questions I can. I tremendously appreciate that so many took time to respond. Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky.

[Tohagi]

I wish you the better luck possible ! 

 

It happened to me, I finally found mine in a post office where it has been dropped under  myscelanus in dirt 6 month later...

 

It was EMS express service.

 

Hope you will find out soon 

 

Best, Éric VD 

Edited July 30 by Tohagi