Opinions on this blade bought from auction??

Hi everyone. A friend sent me photos of a blade he bought a while ago from auction...

Not sure, since I am no expert...but looking at the photos, the shape of the nakago looks way off (mishapen in some parts), there is no mei, the nakago looks as though it was cleaned at some point, since there are no file marks...The hamon looks decent, as does the shape of the blade...There is also a serial number on the habaki...not sure what that means. Weren't gunto swords serialized on the blade itself? Thinking fake...

Maybe one of those Chinese copies....blade is extremely crude. I would call it junk, but to another, it may be treasure.

I am also thinking the hamon looks a little too "crisp." The hamon is a little too defined and neat, no? Could this be a sign of acid etching of some kind?

Chinese.. Typical tsuka ito and crude fittings, then you have the blade

No doubt in my mind. Chinese fake.

Brian

100 % fake.

The ashi is always mounted to far from the koiguchi.

Ito is wrapped wrong and ugly.

Even as a novice it seems clear to me that a genuine blade would atleast have a shingo that lines up between the nagasa and the nakago. Also the fact that the discoloration is not uniform across the whole depth of the mihaba is also suspect. What I mean is, why would the hamon have aged at a different rate than the ha?

I think I read somewhere on this forum that serial number on the habaki = chinese fake.

I think I read somewhere on this forum that serial number on the habaki = chinese fake.

True. It is one of the dead give-aways. No absolutes in this hobby...but when you see that, combined with the other indicators, it confirms it.

Brian

OK I am going to have a few more of these type of posts coming up in the next few days / weeks / months...I belong to a HUGE website called ar15.com and there are a LOT of WWII collectors on it...many of whom have fathers and grandfathers who passed down swords...So more to come...

Curiously when looking at the nakago it looks like plated with the plating peeling away

This is scale from very recent forging/heat application. I have never seen that on a genuine Japanese blade.

Sorry mate but have to agrre with all, this is a duffer{English term}

We have a few ARFcom'ers here, and a few of us are ARFcom'ers too.

Seems Nihonto is easier to source right now in the US than black rifles anyways :D

Brian

We have a few ARFcom'ers here, and a few of us are ARFcom'ers too.

Seems Nihonto is easier to source right now in the US than black rifles anyways :D

 

Brian

Haha isn't that the truth.

A duffer from a hawker.

/Martin