army japanese sword

[drdata]

Hmm. The serial number on the habaki seems a bit off, as in I normally only see that on chinese fake ncos. Beter blade and nakago (tang) pics needed.

Regards

[Alan M]

sorry Pammy , this is a repro , i hope you didn`t pay to much for it

[pammy]

Hi,no i did not pay much at all,but i just took it to my freinds house and he said its a nice original army?ok,eith way is fine as iam going to look under the grip. Would that tell more?or are you 100% its fake?thanks so much..

[pammy]

Here you go as we took it apart and the guy is still telling me its real?can you tell me why its fake like the sighns?thanks so much as eith way is a win win..as the hat i thought was fake and its real..so it all evens out..thanks so much alan!!

[pammy]

Hi alan,could you please reply? Does this blade tag say made in china or something?please i realy need to know 100% that what you said that it is fake so i dont rip no one off..thank you alan as i respect what you say..thanks realy for the help..

[clarksvillestamps]

it would help greatly if you could take a picture of the insciption where the orientation is up and down, with the blade at the top and the tip of the tang at bottom. the characters are read from top to bottom.
i hope that makes sense..
i do want to note a couple of things:
1. the red rust on the tang looks more like what happens when a piece is artificially aged (fairly even coating, and no pitting) real rust from 80+ years just doesn't act that way.
2. for a "signed" blade (which this is trying to be) there really should be a lot more in the way of tool marks (cross hatch/ hatched file marks) on the tang as well.
3. last but not least if you look at the holes for the pegs, it appears that they have been drilled out and have left a slight raised bit of metal at the edge of the hole... this should not be shiny, in fact it should really not even be there as a smith would have filed/shaved them down.

i am sorry at first look it was very promising, but i truly think that this is a repro, although it is much better than is normally seen.
hey then again i could be completely wrong.
i would also love to see some other folks chime in, and express why they think it is good or bad...

[pammy]

Ok,thanks so much as at least the navy hat is worth $800 thats how much i have in the both together..oh well,win some lose some i should have got the broom handle gun as i could have ...but just the little bit for the sword sqrewed me up...i was leaveing one person said you did great on the sword and he realy wanted it...oh,well...thanks and i hate to take it apart again ..I LEASON I DID LEARN IS NEVER LEAVE HOME WITH OUT MY CAMERA EVER AGAIN..THAT WILL TEACH ME!!

[Alan M]

Hi again Pammy , the reproductions of these very collectable items are becoming more and more realistic as time passes , so i am not surprised that people are being fooled by them . If you ever get the chance to view an original example please do , and all will become clearer in terms of quality. The first thing flagged up to me is the artificial ageing of the fittings and the ito . The ito is the wrapping around the tsuka ( handle ) .... do you see where it has light and dark banding , you would not see this on an example 65 -70 years old ! I also do not like the "tie off " of the ito or the quality of the wrapping , also notice that there is no wear to the high spots from handling the sword. The numbering on the habaki would also not be seen on an original or in that font !Now that you have removed the handle you are able to see the one thing that cannot be faithfully reproduced .......the ageing of the blade tang ........or simplified , 70 years of rust ! Finally the cost , nice examples of these Officers Shin Gunto go for between $1200 and $2500 or more depending on quality of blade etc. so the chances of picking one up on the cheap are pretty small , but hey , you never know , stranger things happen

ps , if you would like to see a lot more similar examples to yours go to ebay and type in Japanese Shin Gunto

[pammy]

Hi,thank you so much! As this was a very excpensive leson and iam just depresed/sick over it and should have stuck to what i know more of guns!!! My father taught me everything abought them and i would not be sick right now because of my very bad mistake!! Well i realy thank you as leson leared ,and its going to be some time before i go and buy anything..you have a great day .

[Alan M]

Hey Pammy , it will still display ok as a wall hanger amongst any other Japanese items you have