acquiring a 'genuinely' old Katana is like finding a needle in a minefield. The Market is 'littered' with high quality fakes and 'millions' of poorer construction.
Even the experts get their fingers burned.....this really is a specialist field .....where the risk factor is extremely high as prices are so extreme.
I have held a fantastic 18 th C katana....unbelieveably balanced, an absolute beauty with a lovely Hamon.....a work of art.....this sword 'talked'...but even then the owner wasn't 100% it was genuine
Bill please be very, very careful if you decide to invest in an antique version. A recently made quality katana sounds a good idea. There are still very experienced swordsmiths in Japan that still make them in a totally traditional way....including the production of the steel used in the blades...but these are extremely expensive
