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Old September 27, 2008, 11:29 PM   #14
azredhawk44
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Join Date: September 28, 2005
Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 6,465
I'm not impressed with the blade.

Every Japanese blade I've seen has been beautifully tempered and of an even hue back towards the spine. Granted, most of the swords I've been exposed to have been post 1960 and later products from artisan swordsmiths who cater to the Iaido crowd.

The chrysanthemum seals all over your tsuba and hilt are an imperial decoration. Due to that, your sword was most certainly made after 1868, the Meiji Restoration of imperial rule from the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Given the appearance of the serial number on the brass plate above the tsuba (a strange place for a serial number as that plate is certainly not integral to the sword), I'd say the sword is wartime production, either for the Sino-Japanese war or WWII.

I also don't think you have an original blade. The handful of WWII blades I've seen also have not been etched like that. You may have an exported hilt that has been attached to a european or south american etched repro blade.

You really need to have the sword taken down to a bare blade and examine the tang for any Kanji markings. They should tell us more about the manufacture of the blade.
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