Before you send off your Katana, get it checked out by someone who knows them.

Every so often you find a basic "issue" sword that can hide surprises.

Quite a few Japaneseicon troops went to war carrying the "family" sword, with the traditional handle and guard (tsuka and tsuba) left at home for safe storage and replaced by "ordnance-grade" items.

I have even seen a few fitted with what look like oversized, cutlass-style baskets and guards; probably for IJN service.

The ONLY way to tell is to CAREFULLY remove the retaining peg (menuki) and slide off the handle.

A competent expert will be able to interpret the markings hidden there.

Engineering-wise, there is nothing wrong with "government issue" katanas.

Family blades can run to the truly exotic in character and value.

I have heard that there is a roving team of Japanese Katana gurus traveling around, buying up and "returning" (no doubt for a fee), any family blades for which they can find proper owners.

There are several good books in English in the subject, but with really old blades, apparently it helps if you can read "old", pre Kanji script.