Hi,

there is an offer of an interesting sword - see images at http://imgur.com/a/GBRlB . The mei, according to the seller, should date it to 1655. Can you say whether it is a fake or give some better information?

Thank you :)

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I think this katana is modern, not from 1655. Guardless katanas were not yet made at that time.

Yes, it is only a shira-saya mounting. Japanese swords are very different from European swords in that they are designed to be dismounted and re-mounted as the owner pleases, much more easily. Shirasaya are used to store the blade in the interim.

That said, there are a number of nihonto forums online that you may be better served inquiring at. Your imgur link is not functioning.

What is of real concern is the tang and any possible inscriptions to be seen there. The blade and shirasaya could be from basically any period from the look of it, although my guess is the shirasaya is probably modern. It is a nice simple form and has a simple straight hamon. Hard to really date by that.

The link included the dot behind it, corrected it now. http://imgur.com/a/GBRlB

Based on those pictures I think I would skip it fast. The condition does not seem very good, and I think the signature is highly questionable based on those pics.

I think omote side could start with Higo 肥後, I can't really see the rest due to angle & lighting, and I really didn't bother to look closely. If the owner says it dates to 1655, then year would be Meireki 明暦, but I don't see a real date on the ura side.

Of course everyone looks different things when they are looking for a sword, and price is always a big factor. But I would not recommend buying that sword, there are plenty of affordable swords around that are in my opinion better buys.

It also does not help that the small diamond-shaped inserts around the mekugi-ana appear almost like square metal nuts, which obviously would be a very modern contrivance and highly out of place on an authentic shirasaya fitting...

another way to check the age is the condition of the nakago, nakago were left unpolished as the buildup of rust and patination helped indicate the age, that along with the signature, but thats something done by specialist appraisers

Certainly no expert on Japanese blades. But as a word of caution - I've heard it's VERY hard to judge the authenticity ( or otherwise) of Japanese blades without actually having the blade PHYSICALLY checked over by a RECOGNISED expert on Japanese blades. From what I've gathered, Japanese blades are amongst the most faked blades around :( A photograph can only give an indication - some 'fakes" can be picked simply from looking at a photo - but GOOD fakes are a lot harder to judge without a detailed physical examination of lots of pretty subtle signs.

Not really a lot to add. As has been said the modern shirasaya is not relevant to the swords authenticity. Faked Japanese swords range from obvious Chinese horrors ( which this is not), through to modern made good quality fakes. What is often the case is that you may have a genuine old blade but the signature (mei) is not genuine. It may have been added later or a lesser quality smith may have put the name of a better smith on the blade way back in the past. A word of warning the nakago (tang) does look very clean. This can make expert valuation very difficult and would reduce the value of the blade.

The seller sais he has /somewhere/ some sort of japanese export permit.

If assumed the blade is genuine, what would be an appropriate price?

Reminded me of this:
https://www.aukcije.hr/prodaja/kolekcionarstvo/Militarija/Trofejno-oruzje/278/oglas/WAKIZASHI-katana-stara-oko-450-godina-sablja-IETADA/2693657/

It's a Croatian site for selling antiques. The seller also claims he has a Japanese export papers, but proof of authenticity supposedly had to stay in Japan. The sword is similar to the one you posted...

I hate to direct people to another forum but one of the nihinto forums that only talks about nihinto (swords made properly in Japan) might be the best place to go to