The value of a Japanese sword is determined by type, style, condition, age, maker and many other factors.
Many swords have characters on the tang that give information about the maker and year made.
The lack of information on the tang does not mean the sword is machine made, some older swords do not have characters on the tang and many machine made swords have a maker's name on the tang. If you own a Japanese sword and are planning on selling it, identifying what it is will help you establish an appropriate value. Please see pictures of some typical styles of swords. If your sword or swords look like any of the photos , please note which one if you fill out the evaluation sheet . Copyright 2000 Mark Jones .