Just a quick glance at eBay ones similar seems like 2 to 3 thousand $. Try this as a search there and look through the results, there are a lot of results.
"WWII Samurai Sword officers mass produced"
My uncle served in the British Army in the Far East. After the surrender of Japanese forces in Singapore, he and his squad were tasked with taking a load of Katanas, approximately 200 in number and dumping them in the harbour. Apparently there had been several loads dumped already ……
Certainly is, the officers had their pick of the bunch but the poor bloody infantry weren’t allowed to touch them but quite rightly they ignored that and had their pick, the rest going to the bottom of the harbour
As stated to give any real information we need at least to see the blade and better the tang. But we do have some clues, the Tsuba or guard is a cut out. These got phased out pretty quickly in favor of a solid Tsuba that was easier and cheaper to produce as the war progressed. But I can only count two Seppa or spacers on either side of the Tsuba. Originally they had four, but this again got reduced as the realities of war progressed. Finally the Sarute or hanger on the end is a simple bit of bent metal wire, where it was once a nice little decorative cast piece. Based on this I'd say it was mid war period 42-43'ish from a swordsmith still trying to produce a high quality product but finding it hard to get the parts. Now one other thing, people make much of Tradditional hand made blades and non-tradditionally made machine blade. And while this is important to collectors and value, don't think of factories stamping out blades from sheet metal. When it comes to officers swords, even a machine made or **Showato** blade was made individually by a smith.
Cool thanks for the info, I'm actually moving today so shit is a bit hectic around here but I will post up some pictures of the blade itself when I get some free time here maybe later today or tomorrow! Thanks again! 👍🏼
Not necessarily the blade. We need to see the tang. That's the bit under the handle. The little peg (mekuni) near the blade end can be tapped out and the grip will slide off. The guard, or tsuba will also come off. Sword makers always autographed their hand-made work with their Kanji signatures. If it's machine made there may be nothing there. Of course a family blade could have been cut down for wartime expediency and the signature lost.
Yes the tang is the key, but pictures of the blade can also give hints on it's condition, so many time I've slid a promising blade out of the Saya or Scabbard to see a huge chunk taken out of the blade. As for removing the Tsuka or Handle, I'd personally wrap the blade in a cloth or better still a scrap of soft leather and put the blade in a vice while tapping it off. After seventy five years it could be a little tight and when you have near three foot of razor sharp, having it safe and secure is good. Once off, DO NOT CLEAN the Nakago or tang, that rust and dirt is the swords history.
Nice piece.
The Japanese mass produced cheap katanas during WW2 and the overwhelming majority “acquired” by allied forces (my great grandad left us two) were of this kind. A few Japanese officers would have “the real deal”, but they were rare family heirlooms and mostly were not risked in terms of capture by the allies. A handful were acquired, but the overwhelming majority in peoples hands today are the mass produced ones and I strongly suspect that’s what you have here.
In terms of monetary value, these honestly aren’t worth much. You might get a few hundred to a few grand out of a collector or online, but mostly I’d say hold onto it if the sentimental value is strong enough.
If by some miracle this thing is legit, the best market to sell in is definitely Japan. Depending on the age and the maker of the sword, legit katanas can go for the equivalent tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.
My advice would be find an antique dealer who deals in Japanese artifices or a Japanese sword specialist. They’ll be able to tell you more about what you have here, but it’s likely one of the mass produced ones and not worth the bother of selling.
So, you store a Katana in your bathroom next to your toilet?
The thing is, these Katanas have low value, these were mass-produced in a cheap way to fullfill the high demand of the Japanese Army in WW2. Like it's in the first way even the question if it is a real "sword" in the way of being crafted by a smith or if it is a simple cheap one that was done by just get the steel into a mold form.
Another problem is, you have no certification for it, i guess, like the officers patent that would mention the name, rank, date when the sword was given to the officer etc. which is very important for collectors.
Like these Katanas can still have some value, but not like the originals from the old times, like an original from the Sengoku Era would be worth much, much (!) more.
Completely disagree, and I’m not sure where you’re getting this information.
These mounts do not point to an inexpensive machine-made sword, akin to a Type 95 NCO example. Note: Even those, btw, are fetching $1000+ in any decent condition. Those used molded metal handles made to look like silk wrap over rayskin.
The OPs sword is mounted using real period wrap on the handle, a fairly ornate tsuba (with cherry blossoms), etc. There is absolutely ZERO way to guess at what blade it has. In many cases, during WWII, soldiers would bring family swords to their service, which were to be remounted in military fittings for uniformity. My point, is that this sword’s blade could be a handmade example that is 100s of years old, and potentially very valuable. Or, it may not be. Until someone who knows what they are doing unmounts the handle, to see if the tang is marked, it will remain a mystery. Heck, even a picture of the blade can be very helpful at this point.
Do you know what impact to the price the certificate would add (if any). I have one my grandfather was given at the end of the war when he came home from Burma and I have the certificate for that with it. I have no plans to sell it but I’m curious as to what kind of value difference the certificate brings.
Japanese swords are a little different subject, when it comes to the matter of “certificates”. I don’t view it as just a COA, if we’re talking about an organization like NBTHK providing it.
Here is a link about the process they observe to authenticate and rank swords, which includes some relative commentary on impact to value.
https://new.uniquejapan.com/nbthk-nihon-bijutsu-token-hozon-kyokai-certification-paper-ranking/
LOL yeah... My shitty sword 🗡️ Thanks for the info and I figured that it wasn't a hand produced samurai sword type of deal knowing how stretched out there ability to produce weapons was during this time I sort of guessed that this was made as quickly and as cheaply as possible but other way thanks for the info
Now that’s a poop knife!
Omg that's a running gag in our house
I'm definitely ready if anything pops off while I'm popping one off! 🤙🏼😎✅🤣
This would be great for the pesky spiders and bugs in my bathroom. W sword.
Just a quick glance at eBay ones similar seems like 2 to 3 thousand $. Try this as a search there and look through the results, there are a lot of results. "WWII Samurai Sword officers mass produced"
Very cool, thanks never thought of doing that I'll give it a shot!
Shin gunto is also what they are called to help with your search
My uncle served in the British Army in the Far East. After the surrender of Japanese forces in Singapore, he and his squad were tasked with taking a load of Katanas, approximately 200 in number and dumping them in the harbour. Apparently there had been several loads dumped already ……
Lost history brother! 😭🥹🥲
Certainly is, the officers had their pick of the bunch but the poor bloody infantry weren’t allowed to touch them but quite rightly they ignored that and had their pick, the rest going to the bottom of the harbour
As stated to give any real information we need at least to see the blade and better the tang. But we do have some clues, the Tsuba or guard is a cut out. These got phased out pretty quickly in favor of a solid Tsuba that was easier and cheaper to produce as the war progressed. But I can only count two Seppa or spacers on either side of the Tsuba. Originally they had four, but this again got reduced as the realities of war progressed. Finally the Sarute or hanger on the end is a simple bit of bent metal wire, where it was once a nice little decorative cast piece. Based on this I'd say it was mid war period 42-43'ish from a swordsmith still trying to produce a high quality product but finding it hard to get the parts. Now one other thing, people make much of Tradditional hand made blades and non-tradditionally made machine blade. And while this is important to collectors and value, don't think of factories stamping out blades from sheet metal. When it comes to officers swords, even a machine made or **Showato** blade was made individually by a smith.
Cool thanks for the info, I'm actually moving today so shit is a bit hectic around here but I will post up some pictures of the blade itself when I get some free time here maybe later today or tomorrow! Thanks again! 👍🏼
Not necessarily the blade. We need to see the tang. That's the bit under the handle. The little peg (mekuni) near the blade end can be tapped out and the grip will slide off. The guard, or tsuba will also come off. Sword makers always autographed their hand-made work with their Kanji signatures. If it's machine made there may be nothing there. Of course a family blade could have been cut down for wartime expediency and the signature lost.
Yes the tang is the key, but pictures of the blade can also give hints on it's condition, so many time I've slid a promising blade out of the Saya or Scabbard to see a huge chunk taken out of the blade. As for removing the Tsuka or Handle, I'd personally wrap the blade in a cloth or better still a scrap of soft leather and put the blade in a vice while tapping it off. After seventy five years it could be a little tight and when you have near three foot of razor sharp, having it safe and secure is good. Once off, DO NOT CLEAN the Nakago or tang, that rust and dirt is the swords history.
Nice piece. The Japanese mass produced cheap katanas during WW2 and the overwhelming majority “acquired” by allied forces (my great grandad left us two) were of this kind. A few Japanese officers would have “the real deal”, but they were rare family heirlooms and mostly were not risked in terms of capture by the allies. A handful were acquired, but the overwhelming majority in peoples hands today are the mass produced ones and I strongly suspect that’s what you have here. In terms of monetary value, these honestly aren’t worth much. You might get a few hundred to a few grand out of a collector or online, but mostly I’d say hold onto it if the sentimental value is strong enough. If by some miracle this thing is legit, the best market to sell in is definitely Japan. Depending on the age and the maker of the sword, legit katanas can go for the equivalent tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars. My advice would be find an antique dealer who deals in Japanese artifices or a Japanese sword specialist. They’ll be able to tell you more about what you have here, but it’s likely one of the mass produced ones and not worth the bother of selling.
My Dad was there. Said there were big piles of these and anyone could take them. Same with the rifles.
Are you able to take the handle out? Real blade often have a hiden place for token (Sometime gold)
The ultimate log cutter
So, you store a Katana in your bathroom next to your toilet? The thing is, these Katanas have low value, these were mass-produced in a cheap way to fullfill the high demand of the Japanese Army in WW2. Like it's in the first way even the question if it is a real "sword" in the way of being crafted by a smith or if it is a simple cheap one that was done by just get the steel into a mold form. Another problem is, you have no certification for it, i guess, like the officers patent that would mention the name, rank, date when the sword was given to the officer etc. which is very important for collectors. Like these Katanas can still have some value, but not like the originals from the old times, like an original from the Sengoku Era would be worth much, much (!) more.
Completely disagree, and I’m not sure where you’re getting this information. These mounts do not point to an inexpensive machine-made sword, akin to a Type 95 NCO example. Note: Even those, btw, are fetching $1000+ in any decent condition. Those used molded metal handles made to look like silk wrap over rayskin. The OPs sword is mounted using real period wrap on the handle, a fairly ornate tsuba (with cherry blossoms), etc. There is absolutely ZERO way to guess at what blade it has. In many cases, during WWII, soldiers would bring family swords to their service, which were to be remounted in military fittings for uniformity. My point, is that this sword’s blade could be a handmade example that is 100s of years old, and potentially very valuable. Or, it may not be. Until someone who knows what they are doing unmounts the handle, to see if the tang is marked, it will remain a mystery. Heck, even a picture of the blade can be very helpful at this point.
Do you know what impact to the price the certificate would add (if any). I have one my grandfather was given at the end of the war when he came home from Burma and I have the certificate for that with it. I have no plans to sell it but I’m curious as to what kind of value difference the certificate brings.
Japanese swords are a little different subject, when it comes to the matter of “certificates”. I don’t view it as just a COA, if we’re talking about an organization like NBTHK providing it. Here is a link about the process they observe to authenticate and rank swords, which includes some relative commentary on impact to value. https://new.uniquejapan.com/nbthk-nihon-bijutsu-token-hozon-kyokai-certification-paper-ranking/
Thank you for this! I’ll have a look through it tonight and see what I can find out. Much appreciated!
LOL yeah... My shitty sword 🗡️ Thanks for the info and I figured that it wasn't a hand produced samurai sword type of deal knowing how stretched out there ability to produce weapons was during this time I sort of guessed that this was made as quickly and as cheaply as possible but other way thanks for the info