# Communities > Antique Arms & Armour Community > Chinese, South-East Asia (CSEA) >  Help with a Jian sword identfication

## Joseph Domin

Good evening,
I have been collecting japanese nihonto for a while now but i recently gained interest in other asian swords.
Yesterday i came across with a Jian sword and i would like some advice as i know nothing about these.The thing is that imo fittings look cheap and fake,but i have seen that this seems to be the case in many of these chinesse swords.
The blade however,seems quite nice.
It shows rust,patina and partially faded the 7 gold stars in both sides,and also has three fullers.
If i had to decide i would say is fake but as i don´t know anything about chinesse swords i would like to ask for advice,
Thanks,
Jose

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## Timo Nieminen

Modern fake or decorative jian. That's a nasty looking blade. Sometimes these things have nice blades and trash fittings; on this one the fittings look better than the blade.

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## Joseph Domin

> Modern fake or decorative jian. That's a nasty looking blade. Sometimes these things have nice blades and trash fittings; on this one the fittings look better than the blade.


Thanks,
and any advice you could give me about where to look to get a genuine one or how do average fittings look?

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## Timo Nieminen

To get a genuine one, find a reliable dealer, preferably one who has experience with Chinese swords.

Some examples:
http://www.mandarinmansion.com/welcome
http://sevenstarstrading.com/site/swords/
http://www.swordsantiqueweapons.com/forsale.html
and there are others out there, too.

For a good book, you could try http://www.amazon.com/Steel-Swords-C...dp/7533253582/ (which can sometimes be found at reasonable prices on ebay).

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