Anyone familiar with Japanese Samurai swords values?

[joed25]

Anyone familiar with japanese samurai swords values? I have an opportunity to buy a few supposedly valuable ones but I have no idea what they are worth. I am willing to pay for some advice. Please pm me if you know about these.

[steve B]

I don't know much, but here it is.

The first step is to figure out if it's hand or machine made. Their military issued them to officers in WWII. I'm pretty sure there are websites showing the differences.

The handmade ones have a huge price range. The last time I was looking for one was the 80's, and very ordinary ones were around $900. On the other end of the scale a guy I saw at a tournament - someone a friend took classes from- Used one he'd been given when he graduated from sword school in Japan. That one held him up in customs while they decided whether he'd be allowed to take it out of Japan.

And just because a sword was brought back from WWII doesn't mean it's one of the military issue ones. Some officers with a family history wore heirlooms that ended up as souvenirs. (Something that makes a sad situation sadder still to my thinking)

Steve B

[joed25]

Originally Posted by steve B

I don't know much, but here it is.

The first step is to figure out if it's hand or machine made. Their military issued them to officers in WWII. I'm pretty sure there are websites showing the differences.

The handmade ones have a huge price range. The last time I was looking for one was the 80's, and very ordinary ones were around $900. On the other end of the scale a guy I saw at a tournament - someone a friend took classes from- Used one he'd been given when he graduated from sword school in Japan. That one held him up in customs while they decided whether he'd be allowed to take it out of Japan.

And just because a sword was brought back from WWII doesn't mean it's one of the military issue ones. Some officers with a family history wore heirlooms that ended up as souvenirs. (Something that makes a sad situation sadder still to my thinking)

Steve B

Thank you very much Steve.