I think the preservation traditions of japanese swords+ the fact that there were no wars in Edo periods plaid an important role. Also, late Koto is not that rare because of mass production of that era... In the same time Muromachi and Kamakura are far more expensive.
Concerning ancient kindjals and caucasian swords... I also thought XVIII century to be as far as you can go until I visited couple of truly high-standing noblemen. XV-XVI century things in Georgia are really not that unusual, only the owners never sell and never shows these swords to anyone.
From what they told me, the collection of Tbilisi State Historical Museum should be outstanding... I definitely would like to make some contacts with people from there, I think they have the museum has a webpage or something.
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