"authentic" Katana?

A

ashbringer

Joined
Jan 17, 2015
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Hey, i've been looking to buy a sword, i found this katana close to me which he say's is a tamahagane 1095 Carbon Steel sword, since i don't really know that much about katana's i wanted to ask you guys what you think. The price is set at about 650 dollars and he said he bought it on a travel in Japan for about twice of that amount.

Some pics:

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Based on your pics, it looks like swords I've seen at gun shows. Chinese machine made. Might have been purchased in Japan but it's not Japanese made. I don't think $650 is a decent price. It is a nice looking sword.
 
This would be illegal in Japan if not made by a licensed swordsmith. Licensed swordsmiths don't use 1095, they use the traditional steel, tamahagane. Looks Chinese.
 
yes, stay clear. Tamahagane is the steel made using traditional smelting in Japan, 1095 is a modern high carbon steel. So to say it is Tamahagane 1095 steel doesn't make a lot of sense
 
I've seen that exact same habaki on swords ranging from $120- $200. It's Chinese. The xeroxed "paper of authenticity' is a nice touch, lol. These generally come in a screen printed sword-bag with a low-priced cleaning kit, and sometimes a cloth-lined box, for around $150 on average. They aren't horrible, usually differentially tempered, although they aren't hand forged. It wouldn't be a terrible "starter sword", if it were a more reasonable $100-$150 or so. This sword has NEVER seen Japan, it would have been confiscated and destroyed.
 
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