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What's this worth?

Submitted by HKnoma on Tue, 2012-10-09 12:49

Hello everyone, first time poster, first time collector! I'm looking to gather maybe 3 to 5 swords to mount in my home office and would like ones from differing time periods from Japan. I've always been intrigued by Japanese culture, taking Judo classes for some time and just recently adopting a Kai-Ken puppy with my girlfriend. Now before I get too far off topic I'd like to see if anyone here can expand on a sword I've been following on GunBroker.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=309083740

It appears to be WWII era with a blade that has heavy oxidation. What caught my eye is the beautiful detail on the tsuba, and how it looks very similar to an Edo period katana I've found on ebay;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Edo-period-1600-1868-Kunikane-II-katana-Rare-opp...

My question is, is this a popular tsuba design and most likely a modern reproduction? Is it worth the asking price? (I actually really dig the worn look of the sword and saya) Any help I could get would be appreciated, pardon my ignorance on some of these things, but I'm eager to learn!

Blake

‹ Translation help please Translation Asistance ›

#1Submitted by saipan59 on Tue, 2012-10-09 17:06.

gunto

Hi, The gunbroker blade is a fairly standard "gunto" WWII-period blade, with WWII mounts. The tsuba is also a very common type for gunto - they are made of cast brass. However, there are different quality levels for those cast tsuba. The one there might be a better type (not sure from the pictures). The blade is signed "Kazunori", and is dated from the Showa period (I couldn't see the date clearly enough to read the exact year, but it is going to be early 1940's). Years ago, I had a gunto by the same smith. The $1500 price seems quite high to me, given that the blade is in rough condition. But I'm not very current on the pricing these days...

The eBay blade has WWII-style mounts, which is why the shape of the tsuba is the same. A high percentage of all WWII mounts have a tsuba that is that same shape/style. I didn't look at it carefully, but I'm not sure that the blade and mounts are legit. Beware of fakes made in China!

Pete
#2Submitted by HKnoma on Wed, 2012-10-10 00:24.

Thank you for the quick

Thank you for the quick response, unfortunately it looks like I broke every rule in the book with that post!

I'm not going to go after the sword from gunbroker, you're absolutely right, that price seemed very stiff for such a poorly maintained blade. I really like how everything seemed well worn, but if those styles are fairly common I'll just continue my search for something of a better value.

Regarding the one from eBay, I couldn't imagine being ripped off for that price... I'll have to look to see if there's anyone in this area that has a shop I can go to and explore.

Thanks again -
#3Submitted by T_Cunning on Wed, 2012-10-24 00:45.

Just a thought, you might

Just a thought, you might want to try a gun and knife show. WWII type swords are fairly common in those venues, and sometimes you can find someone that knows what they are talking about to help you. Of course you can always find someone who thinks they know what they are talking about...lol.
#4Submitted by saipan59 on Thu, 2012-10-25 02:03.

gun shows

Be very careful about spending any "real money" on a sword at a gun show. The level of knowledge of Japanese swords is mostly quite low (but of course there are exceptions).
As I often say to newbies, your best bet is always to find an experienced J-sword collector group, and then don't make any big purchase without getting their input. When I was involved in the Colorado Token-Kai, folks would bring for-sale stuff to our meetings, and it was easy to get multiple opinions on an item. A great learning experience, and you can have some confidence on what you're buying.

Pete