Help Authenticating Japanese Sword

E

eneyman

Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Messages
701
Hey guys, I received this sword from my uncle many years ago. I believe he said something along the lines of "I got it at an auction" but he is one of those slickster New York types so I'm not so sure I believed him. I always thought it was just a low end replica but looking it over it does seem very aged (and yes I know this can be forged easily) Anyways, if you experts can take a look and let me know if this is something real or just a cheap knock off. The sheath feels very thin and when tapping it sounds almost like a plastic, but feels cold to the touch.. The handle has that Japanese wrap pattern but it is actually a solid piece of metal from what I can tell. The sheath interior has a wood lining inside and is sort of crumbly. There is a number painted/etched? on the blade as well.. don't know if this was even done.

Any help appreciated

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Sorry to say your first impressions are correct. Definitely a cheap copy, most likely made in China. Check out Dr. Rich Stein's website, "The Japanese Sword Index". He has a ton of information and quite a few good examples of actual Nihonto. Here's a link to his section on fake swords. http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/repro.htm.

Another place to see really good examples of fair to mid level katanas is on the Nihonto Antiques site http://www.nihontoantiques.com/.

Sorry I couldn't give you better news. Hopefully the Slickster Uncle didn't pay too much for it at auction.
 
Even if it were real, which it's not, it looks like it's emulating a WWII style Gunto...many of which aren't really worth all that much as far as I'm aware.
 
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