05-19-2020 06:27 AM
My husband died several months ago. He had 5 Katana repro samurai swords, 1 bokken and a rack to hold them all, which I'd like to sell. The problem is I don't know how much to ask for these items. How do I find values for them? (No receipts have been found for these either.)
Only one sword has words etched on it along with Japanese characters. The words say: United Black; Hand-Forged ___ (unreadable); High Carbon Steel."
All the swords have gold figures underneath the cording on the handles. Do those mean anything? If so, how does one look them up?
Thank you to anyone that can provide guidance.
05-19-2020 06:40 AM - edited 05-19-2020 06:44 AM
My condolences on your loss.
You can get an idea of the value of the swords and holder by looking at these eBay Completed Listings, noting that if the price is in green the item sold:
or
You can also find them for sale on various other venues, to get an idea of retail prices:
05-20-2020 11:27 AM
I sell replica at a shop I rent space. The ones I handle are pretty low priced, $30-$40. There replicas that can cost upwards of $1000 wholesale. If you have a tax id, you might try looking through the swords listed at Blue Ridge Knife online store.
05-20-2020 02:56 PM
Thank you. I got a tax id once when I thought I was going to sell things on ebay, and I've been trying to locate it since I saw your message, but haven't been able to.
My husband was taught to buy only the very best (and he'd do that even when he couldn't afford to). So, unfortunately, I'm worried this his swords might be of the more expensive kind. I'm really hoping not though.
05-20-2020 07:44 PM
You don't need a tax # to sell on eBay anymore.
05-20-2020 07:49 PM
I think the tax id was/is needed to look at the site that was referred to in the message.
05-21-2020 12:06 AM - edited 05-21-2020 12:09 AM
@norskygal wrote:
Only one sword has words etched on it along with Japanese characters. The words say: United Black; Hand-Forged ___ (unreadable); High Carbon Steel."
I don't know a thing about swords, but "United Black" is a specific product range made by United Cutlery, if that's any help:
https://www.unitedcutlery.com/ProductDetail.aspx?itemno=UC2585&cat=CC
https://www.worthpoint.com/inventory/search?query=%22United+Black%22+%22katana%22&category=