NCO Gunto with questions

[Joefriday22]

Hello,

I was at a local antique store today when a man walked in with this item. The store bought it and I bought it from the store minutes later.

 

Can anyone tell me when it was made? I see no makers marks on it. The serial number on the blade and scabbard match. The blade has some staining but no rust. Approximate value?

 

 

Thank you very much for any information.

Rob

[george trotter]

Hi Rob,

I don't collect these and have even been known to mistake a Chinese copy as the real thing (they are getting harder to tell). In this case your sword looks completely correct. I looked up F & G "Jap. Mil. & Civ. Sw and Dirks" P.84 and your sword fits perfectly into the table of serial numbers, scabbard types, screw placements and markings for Tokyo Kokura Arsenal...the small stamp mark next to your serial number is "to" (Tokyo).

Hope this helps.

[Joefriday22]

That is great information. Thank you very much for taking the time to find the information and reply to me.

Any idea what year the sword was manufactured?

Best regards,

Rob

[Mark]

it is genuine. they usually sell in the $350-600 range but sometimes bring more

[george trotter]

Hi Rob,

no I can't tell you when it was made except to say that the book I mentioned gives this info...they are called a Type 35 (16 Sept. 1935 intro), so it was made between 1935-1945. Yours is numbered in the 59,000 range and he mentions another sword numbered in the 147,000 range, also made in Kokura Tokyo, so they made about 150,000 at least. it is certain that the Manchurian incident in 1931 started 14 years of intense arms manufacture, especially between 1937 (invasion of China) and 1945. Yours may be in the late 1930s?...I believe there are newer texts on Japanese military equipments etc, so maybe google for them and check wikipedia...you never know what you may find.

Good luck.

[Joefriday22]

Thank you very much George and Mark.

 

This sword was brought into an antique store yesterday while I was talking to the store owner. The seller sold it to the store for $250 and I bought it for $400. The seller stated that his father was in the US Army during the war and brought it back from the Philippines but the store owner did not get any information on his father. What a shame.

 

Thank you again,

Rob

[george trotter]

Hi Rob,

...they are called a Type 35 (16 Sept. 1935 intro)

 

 

Ooops...I meant to say Type 95 (2595 year since the first Emperor...this equates to 1935). Sorry about that...old age!

You have a nice example of a Type 95 too.

Regards.

[Stu W]

Hello Rob,

 

Looks like a nice example of a machine made Army NCO Type 95. As it's the top latch iron tsuba version I believe it would have been made several years after the introduction of this model. Those with the brass tsubas (thick, then thin) came before the iron version according to what I have read. Here is a link to a site where you will be able to see the progression through photographs.

 

http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_070.htm

 

I'll also add a photo of some of mine.

 

Kind Regards,

Stu