Samurai Sword Fraud: Even Ancient Swords Can Be Forgeries
Throughout it’s history, Japan has had many revered sword smiths. Those whose talent and reputation for producing blades was so great, they commanded the highest prices for their work.
In Japan, the fact is, to make a worthwhile living, you must be a very good sword smith and earn a reputation as such. Of course, like in anything else, not everyone can succeed at the highest level.
While some may give in, or work hard to improve their craft over many years, others have, throughout history, found less honest ways to make money from their blades – by forging signatures of famous and revered smiths on the tang of a blade not forged by that smith.
This is nothing new, and has happened since ancient times right up until this day. It’s sometimes difficult to see how criminality existed even hundreds or thousands of years ago when we see modern life as rife with criminality, but, it’s not uncommon for blades of hundreds of years old to be forgeries, too.
That’s why it’s important that you never buy a blade – old or new – based solely on the signature. You need an expert eye to ascertain if the blade is genuine and worth the price, or a forgery.