need an appraisal

[ganjakid]

I need some help on finding someone to appraise a sword for me. A very good friend on his last day of work (lucky dog) gave me a samuri sword, he told me he has had it for some 30 yrs, he took it to someone and they said it was @100 yrs old. I took the handle apart and could find no makers mark. I need to be able to send pictures or if the person is in SW PA. Any help is appriciated.

 

[Robert Marotz]

If you have any means of allocating and sending pics of good quality...please do. If it has a fair amount of rust and damage to it, it will be much harder to identify. Pics of the tang and tip and overall profile would be important. If the blade is in relatively good condition and has a hamon visible (hamon is a "temper line" as some call it, on a well polished blade it will be a milky or luminous white) or hada (forge welding grain patterns), try to get pics of it also. Do not remove rust from the tang, do not rub the blade with sandpaper or go near it with a buffer until someone has taken a fair look at it. If it has metal fittings, do not try to polish them or modify them in any way, again until they have been given at least a once-over.

Online "appraisals" are difficult to accomplish, but in a lot of cases you can get at least some degree of information regarding your piece if the information and pics are reasonably detailed. Let me know if you need to email the pics or if you can post them or whatever method if possible.

Good luck,
Shinryû.

 

[BRTATCK]

Hello, Ganjakid, I will have to go along with Mr. Martoz. Don't attempt to clean the sword with sandpaper or any abrasive material. Appraisals without holding and visually judging the sword are difficult. However you can get a general idea from pictures. Especially of the tang, blade, point, and temperline or hamon if there is one showing. Also information regarding length could be helpful. If you would like and can get pictures feel free to e-mail me and I will see what I can come up with. I am not an expert, just a long time collector who will look at any japanese blade. Also you might check out The Japanese Sword Index on the web. I can't remember the address right at the moment but a search for japanese swords on the web should pull it up. Good luck
BRT

Addendum from Robert Marotz:
Rich Stein's Japanese Sword Index, http://www.japanesesword.homestead.com