Sort Of OT : Do You Ever Wonder

[Tim Simmons]

That may be so but myself and I suppose many others will still see these repro things rather like collecting phone cards or beanie babies or what ever they are called? they fetch a lot of money!!!!! I am wicked Tim , PS, I do not count modern hunting utility knives in this comment.

[Rivkin]

I tend to disagree. While I dislike "Revival" or "Reproduction" swords, they are not made for collectors. They are made for militant nationalists (showa being a great example) and souvenir lovers. Japanese swords (of whatever date and quality) will always be popular as long as japanese nationalism will be able to convince people that japanese culture is cool, completely unique, and their swords are absolutely the best. Today it is not a problem - from "kill bill", "last samurai" to your local karate dojo we have "senseis" spreading the word.
Caucasian kindjals made today (Asya & Kizlyar) are also not made for collectors. Chechen campaigns provide ample numbers of contracted officers looking for a souvenir. Nationalistic Cossack wannabes all want to have a “real shashka from Dagestan”. Polish nationalism is rather intact, and that’s why it is better to be a “polish sword” than a simple karabela.

Victorian reproductions are not popular due to the nearly complete destruction of european/english-american nationalism. What was the last time we had “enlish-american history month” or “white pride parade” with more than 50 attendees? And the massive outbreak of such nationalism aka third reich was accomponied by massive making of reproductions and other daggers, swords etc.

[ariel]

I think Rivkin has a very good point.
On the other hand, real collectors will stay around for a long time (there were collectors of Greek antiquities in ancient Rome!), but the flavour of national pride will shift. Who knows, may be the most sought after stuff 200 years from now will be the Chinese junk we laugh at today.

[RSWORD]

I believe that quality items will always hold and increase in value regardless of the period of time they were manufactured. While many factors play into value such as historic context, provenance, collector interest,and so on, invariably a very well made sword will do well. I do not think the mass produced items of today will hold much future interest but the smiths that take a lot of care to carefully manufacture something of quality, ie a Vince Evans, then you have the same conditions as two hundred years ago except the lack of battlefield experience. Because a smith like Vince maybe will only do a few hundred blades in a lifetime, I think the future collector would prize a well made sword from the late 20th, early 21st century. Quality will always turn the collectors head.

[Rick]

Rick , that is about the conclusion I came to .
A work of art is a joy forever .
Now I expect that society and interests will change over the centuries but I suspect that unless legislated out of existence Arms Collecting will always have a niche in the art world .

[Federico]

Into all that has been said (which I also agree with) I will throw in the caveat for modern custom jobs, the value will hold as long as the smith is remembered. In as much as their value derives its worth not so much from the quality of work, but in as much from the reputation of the smith. Ive seen many high quality pieces made from amateur to novice smiths that can blow away some of the custom jobs in quality, but due to the lack of fame of the smith demand extremely low prices. Of course smiths naturally build reputation from quality work, but there is naturally a certain level of inflation in price that does not reflect quality when someone becomes "famous". We bump ourselves into the future, where the name is no longer remembered, while the quality will be recognized, the lack of name may drop the price a couple of decimal places. How many high quality victorian era ,or whatever past repro tradition you wish, are often just dismissed just because of when it was made, vs the actual pieces quality. Into that light, throw in custom jobs of today.

[Rick]

That's an interesting take Federico but I've never seen a signed kris or keris ; they tend to be judged on workmanship and materials alone .

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Federico

...value derives its worth not so much from the quality of work, but in as much from the reputation of the smith...

I have heard this before, too, including privately from some very well regarded modern American bladesmiths who personally often hold some of the ethnographic work in very high esteem and are horrified by celebrated fellow smiths who are 'coasting' on their laurels or are more a product of the blade magazines than anything that came off of their anvil or grinder.