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kennin
8th August 2000, 19:44
Hi,

About ten years ago I bought this japanese sword which would be an original japanese officers blade of WWII.
Nowadays, I oftenly see an officers blade, but it looks entirely different. Those I see nowadays are with leather wrapings around the tsuka.
My tsuka is entirely of steel, with fake wrapping carved in to it.
Is this a guntô or what have I bought?
AND was it worth the 200$ I had to pay for it?

ghp
8th August 2000, 20:12
Kennin,

Yes, it is a gunto.

Your's sounds like an NCO's sword, not an officer's. NCO swords typically have aluminum cast handles -- some still with a hint of brown coloring remaining. Also, these will have serial numbers on the tang, guard, and other fittings. The blades are not tempered and will even bend when hitting a hard target -- tree limb (or helmet ?)

$200 is a good price for this arsenal weapon -- you'll pay upwards of $250 for it now.

Regards,
Guy

kennin
8th August 2000, 20:33
Originally posted by ghp

Yes, it is a gunto.

Your's sounds like an NCO's sword, not an officer's

What's a NCO???

8th August 2000, 22:29
NCO stands for Non-Commissioned Officer. It is in reference to the higher enlisted ranks such as corporal, petty officer, sargeant, etc., where the person was promoted to rank versus accepting an officer's commission. Although still considered a member of the enlisted (or drafted) ranks, an NCO is sort of like a first- or second-level supervisor, but still not management.

ghp
8th August 2000, 23:59
Achim,


What's a NCO???

To add to Don's input:

Der NCO ist ein Unteroffizier (Unterfeldwebel, Feldwebel, Hauptfeldwebel), aber nicht Offizier (Leutnant, Hauptman, Major, Oberstleutnant, Oberst, usw).

Sorry about the poor grammar (der/die/das -- in Garmisch I only had to say "d'") ... and I never memorized genders, so I don't know if "Unteroffizier" is "ein," "eine," or "einem" or whatever!!!!

Servos! und pfua'di' Gott.

Guy
(bergsteiger ohne berge)

John Lindsey
10th August 2000, 03:10
The NCO swords were produced between 1935 and 1945. Most have aluminum handles, but a few had copper. Some also had cheap wooden handles and are probably of late war manufacture since the blade was equally as poorly made.