What is an authentic samurai sword worth?

Answer 1

Well, that depends on a few things. first, and foremost, is it actually a police sword. army officer's dress swords are often mistaken for police swords, and there are even sites where people seem to have done their research that are mistaken about it. the aforementioned dress Sabre will be roughly the size of a standard military Sabre having a blade which is 29-32 inches in length and chrome plated. army swords will also have either a Kiku or Sakura badge on the backstrap of the hilt. the kiku being a flower with 16 petals, the sakura having 5. the police badge is harder to describe, it is a five pointed star with an angled ray coming over each of the points. like i said, hard to describe, but if you have that on your sword, you will know exactly what i mean when you read it. either of those swords are not worth a whole ton, i would pay maybe $300-400 for one in decent shape [hilt in good repar, sheath intact, no scratches on the blade, etc.]. unless in HORRIBLE condition, i would not let one go for less than about $75-100. the other type of police sword i have encountered is much shorter, having a blade length of 16-18 inches. it will also have the police badge that i previously mentioned. these swords are older, and better made than the previous examples. they are usually hand forged blades, some are signed, some are not, they have chromed sheaths, and wire-wrapped leather hilts without a knuckle guard. depending mostly on the condition of the blade [a good blade should be bright, reflective, have no pitting or chips, and most importantly, have a visible temper line near the edge.] one of these could go for $150 on the the low end, and i really good one, i would pay 800+ for. if you would like to send me pictures so i may make a better distinction, email me at pfc.mason@hotmail.com

Answer 2

Values of true authenticated Japanese Samurai Swords vary greatly. Certification by NTHK or NBTHK inspection in Japan brings the sword to the greatest value..[Beware as there are many copies and frauds available.] There is also the Historical Certification authenticating the origin of the sword but does not judge the condition. Most antique swords have seen much use and may have battle damage. Damage does not necessarily reduce value if the original Hamon (temper line) can still be seen and the age great...For example a sword from the 1200's to 1300's will be of substantial value even if battle damage is considered fatal. Whereas a recent sword may have little or no value if temper lines meet the cutting edge or vertical cracks (Hagire) are visible. I am not an expert by an means but have picked up this information in starting a modest collection. A collector might pay as little as $250 for a much used Edo period sword blade or as much as $2000 for the same sword blade from the early or pre Muramashi Era. A mint inspected and papered sword from these early periods may bring $25,000 also. Many swords of higher quality are in museums and will probably never be publically available. A sword fully equipped with all accessories will be more depending upon collectability. From my short time trying to learn to evaluate swords I've seen that most of the value is in the eye of the beholder. There are guidelines too however, adhered to fairly strictly by serious collectors. But there are many swords available and affordable to the novice. Again...beware of fakes

Answer 3

Japanese swords are very much collected especially by the Japanese. They were the chosen weapon of the samurai, mercenary soldiers in the various provinces that now make up modern Japan. The swords were made to order by highly skilled swordsmiths, many of whom gained tremendous reputations. All were signed on the tang, the end of the blade inside the grip. You seem very certain about the date of the sword and I have to ask how are you so certain? Because to date a sword, you would have to interpret the Japanese characters etched into the blade of the sword. Few can be dated to an actual year because the smiths tended simply to sign the blade with their name. That means the swords can usually be dated to a period that a particular smith was historically known to be working. Okay, having given you that background, we come to condition, if the blade is perfect with a clearly visible yakiba, temporing line running along the blade, then that is one important criteria. If the various decorative mounts are fine, that is another value point. But the smiths signature is the most important value point. The work of the smiths varied enormously in quality. So, for an important smith, the value of a perfect condition sword might be $20,000 or even more. For a nonentity smith, one whose work is of low quality, then as little $600. For damaged or uncared for blades that might need expert restoration in Japan, then it would be difficult to even guess a value. But, restoration is expensive and unless the blade's value could be dramatically increased by such a restoration, probably not worth doing unless a very emminent smith was involved.

Answer 4

well an authentic samurai sword can cost well more than $1,000

I think the worth of an Authentic Japanese sword is more than $10 000.

Many swords made by Hanwei forge cost 1-2000 and these swords are not authentic, antique swords.

Some online auctions offering authentic historical swords for even 50,000-100,000 dollars.

Answer 5

It is worth millions that's how much its worth

Answer 6

It depends on what you are talking about.