# Communities > Antique Arms & Armour Community > Antique & Military Sword Forum >  WWII Japanese NCO Sword?

## Mike Hanson

I will be looking at what is being billed as a WWII Japanese NCO Sword.  It certainly looks authentic to me, but as I'm new to collecting, is there anything I should particularly be looking for or at to validate that it is the real deal?

Thanks.

Mike

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## Glen C.

Hi Mike

Start here
http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm

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## Mark McMorrow

Hi Mike,

Good data on Mr. Stein's site.  Please note there are lots of fakes of this sword out there.  Some of them are quite convincing.  

M~

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## Mike Hanson

> Please note there are lots of fakes of this sword out there.  Some of them are quite convincing.


This is my concern.  I looked over the web site and there is a lot of great information.  If the sword has 'matching numbers' is it reasonable to assume it is authentic, or is that something the fakes are replicating as well?

It will be a couple weeks before I get to see it in person,  It's in a small shop in a small town, so hopefully it won't get picked up before I can get there to look at it.   :Smilie: 

MH

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## Jussi Ekholm

Well the matching numbers part is tricky. If the sword is totally original, all parts have matching numbers. But the sword can be authentic even if the numbers dont match, meaning that some parts have been replaced by parts from another sword (for example missing saya has been replaced with new one if the blade fitted to that one). And yes as far as I know the replicas tend to have matching numbers too, trying to replicate the real thing.

You mentioned only NCO, is it type 95 (katana) or type 32 (sabre) shaped?

Now as Mark mentioned there are lots of japanese NCO sword fakes out there, and the good fakes can be really good. Here is some information to help you.

This is the best site I've found regards to japanese military swords. http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_002.htm

The basic configurations for type 95 gunto.

1st version: Army Arsenal Tokyo (Kokura) Factory made, unpainted tsuka, brass aoi shape tsuba, brass saya note the end of saya
2nd: Army Arsenal Nagoya Factory made, painted tsuka, brass aoi shape tsuba, iron saya note the end of saya
3rd: Tōkyō First(Kokura) Army Arsenal made, plain blackend iron tsuba, black iron fuchi, black seppa, note the end of saya
4th: Nagoya Army Arsenal Atsuta Arms Factory Seki Factory made, otherwise same as 3rd. (side stopper)
5th: Nagoya Army Arsenal made, wooden tsuka, note the different kabuto-gane,  tsuba, fuchi and seppa iron painted black
6th: Nagoya Army Arsenal made, pretty much similar to 5th but note the different wooden saya.

Note stopper positions on each type, you can see them clearly in the tsuka page.

When you go more through the pages you can see information about numberings and stamps. How/where they should be and what do the stamps mean. Plus a lot more information in there.

In case the sword you meant is type 32, that great informative page has that covered too. After reading the NCO part of that website you'll have much more knowledge when you get to that shop in couple weeks.

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## Mike Hanson

It is a type 95, I believe with the painted aluminum hilt.  Are there any references that aid in determining value, as far as if what he's asking is reasonable?  If I recall he was asking $400 for it, which seems reasonable if it is authentic, but I'm far from an expert - I'm looking at it from a WWII memorabilia standpoint.

MH

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## DanR

Good morning Mike,
Same questionning here...I developped recently a fondness for japanese swords; last december, I received a T-95 second model and a T-95 fifth model, also a most super kaï-gunto with a fishkin saya.
As soon as you see the saber, you should recognize the real Mc Coy : finish, balance, quality of the fittings, the paint, the finish of the blade....
First, who sells it ? is he ready to take it back? as of prices, the market right now is around US $ 800.00 to 900.00 for a decent T-95, except for the first model (copper hilt) that fetchs the US 2000.00 mark.
If you have photos, ask members of the forum; they could give you a goog input.
Dan

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