What should be used for a sword?

Where in South East michigan can i get an apprasial on a Katana (samuri sword) that was used in WWII?

• My grandfather brought this Katana back from WWII. I did get an appraisal done on this about 6 years ago. It was appraised for $2,000 it has pieces that date back to 1600's. And from what the appraiser said has the markings that it was from the part of japan that had the samurais revolt, if you remember the movie the last samurai where the samurai's fought with i guess they would be called the Imperial army and lost. This sword could was probably used to fight in that. I just wanted to get a 2nd appraisal and 2nd opinion from another appraiser. I do not want to sell it i have tried to take it up to Gibraltar when they have their gun and knife show. The problem with that no one will tell me what its worth but they all want to throw money at me to buy it on the spot. It means too much to me to sell i just want to make sure i have it insured for the proper amount. As stupid as this sounds i was watching hardcore pawn last week. Its about a pawn shop in detroit and a women brought in a katan she claimed was from WWII and wanted $5,000 they said they would have bought it and possibly at that price but hers was not a real sword it was not made out of the right material.

• Answer:

  For all intents and purposes, an appraisal is little more than a guess as to what an item MAY bring at sale, if the market is favorable. Aside from an item's scrap value, what something is "worth" depends largely on who's doing the buying and for what reason. Like most shysters, those on "Hardcore Pawn" tell a lot of people what they WOULD HAVE paid, but you rarely ever see them do it. Hopefully that and your experiences at the Gibraltar shows have taught you when dealing with those kind of people, they aren't often paying very much. If you're dealing with a true collector, what they're willing to pay will depend on how desperately they want it and how desperate you are to sell or keep it. This is of course contingent on whether the item you have is authentic. THAT is what you need to concern yourself with first: having it authenticated. With all due respect to your grandfather and his service, without some form of traceable serial numbers, documentation or tangible proof that your sword is in fact of the lineage he claimed it to be, it's "value" is nearly entirely subjective. Once you have authentication of an item, then you can come far closer to guessing what price a true collector may place on your treasure. Since you have the internet at your disposal, you'll be better served to reach beyond the borders of our fine state for that authentication, since a true Katana can fetch anywhere from ten to fifty-thousand dollars, as evidenced by Christies: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?entry=katana+sword&action=search&searchtype=u&searchFrom=header&searchSubmit=Search#entry=katana+sword&action=refine&searchtype=u&searchFrom=header&searchSubmiSearch&sid=daffe70c-f1a3-4b6c-b329-039a4606f34a The following link will give you some idea as to what true authentication entails: http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/origami.htm