SC0016
A rare example of a mint condition army officer sword with custom ordered high grade blade.
During the time of surrender, most officers would try to erase the mon so as not to disgrace their clan. As a matter of fact, swords with family Mon are few and rare so make this sword highly collectible and the overall mint condition adds another big premium to its value.
This sword is in uncarried condition as it seems not have entered into the battle field as testified by its overall mint condition. The sword looks like it has just left the sword shop.
The Mon belongs to the Otani family and this high grade blade was ordered made from Kiyonobu, who was a swordsmith in Gifu during the WW2.
During the war, gunto blades were made in arsenals throughout Japan by sword smiths employed by the army and these blades were given to non-commission soldiers.
But an officer must buy for himself from sword dealer, so the dealer shall then ordered with sword smiths in various sword making provinces.
If he has his own family blade, he can asks the dealer to remount it as a gunto.
If he was from a rich family, he could on time of order, specify special features or state the quality he wanted.
This sword was of the high grade quality produced by the smith. It seemed that the officer held a captain rank and was not involved in field action. He could have belonged to a privileged group of officers because of his Noble family background.
Price : NOT FOR SALE