Japanese sword help

**85ronnies** · 07-14-2012, 08:52 PM

Hello guys and girls i am posting this up for information as it is not my line of collecting, and am wondering if you could give me any information about it, i am told it is not military and the blade could be upto 200 years old it dosent have any markings on the tang or the blade, your help would be appreciated,
cheers Ronnie

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and some more pic's
cheers Ronnie

**Andrew** · 07-14-2012, 09:26 PM

i'm no katana expert by any means, but a few things stand out to me on this sword. if it were 200 years old i'd expect to see some hand oil on the wrap, the ray skin looks fake because the bumps are all flat, and should not be (as far as what i have seen ). the tsuba looks like something i would expect on a chinese repro. and the blade from what i can see has a distinct wood grain look, like s simulated demast. also common to the chinese repro's. with out seeing the tang, its hard to tell if its a machine made blade or not. and the saya ( scabbard) looks kind of fresh to me. Bob will be able to tell you for sure. i can only go by what very little i know. i hope i'm wrong.
Andrew

**85ronnies** · 07-14-2012, 09:39 PM

Cheers Andrew

looking at the ray skin in hand it is raised but cant make out any "wood grain" ?? on the blade it may be the pics, i was doubtfull when someone told me the blade could be upto 200 yrs old??? but then again what do i know

thanks for your reply,

cheers Ronnie

**Andrew** · 07-14-2012, 09:49 PM

no problem Ronnie, i hope i'm wrong, my eyes are pretty bad any more. the wood grain i mention is on the blade, 4th pic. lol or at least it just looks like it to me. could just be the lighting. i'm better with the military blades than civilian.
Andrew

**85ronnies** · 07-14-2012, 09:57 PM

Thanks again Andrew, if you click on the picture twice they will open up and you get a good clear look at it, i think it may be oil of some sort?? it smells odd anyway

i will post some pics shortly of the tang and hopefully Bob may chime in aswell

,
thanks again Ronnie

**85ronnies** · 07-14-2012, 10:11 PM

and a couple more pics

**Alan M** · 07-14-2012, 10:55 PM

Hiya Ronnie , your sword is an old civilian example and is certainly genuine and pre ww2 probably Edo period with an iron tsuba , nice menuki under a good wrap and a decent looking scabbard ( i see the koiguchi or the fitting at the throat of the scabbard is missing ! ) from what i can see from the pics . Can you post some more pics mate , of the tsuba front and rear , of the pommel , of the blade flat on in daylight ( you know from your daggers that blades are not easy to photograph well , lol ) , and the tang . As far as the tang being unsigned , this is not a problem as such as many of these old blades were "mumei" or unsigned . I can see the grain on the blade and also a few tiny openings which is another trait of these older blades . How long is the blade Ronnie ?