need help with an arisaka bayonet

[surpman1911]

I didn't expect to be walking out of a vinyl record store with an original japanese arisaka bayonet but i couldn't pass it up for $30. The guy who i bought it from said it was his uncles who brought it back from WWII along with a few other items. The bayonet itself has little rust but the scabbard has a lot of tarnish on it, however, there is a scratch on it that went through the tarnish and I can see that it is made of brass (see pictures). I can also see brass on the inside of the scabbard. I was wondering if these bayonets are commonly found with brass scabbards and what it might be worth. I was also wondering if removing the tarnish on the scabbard would devalue it as I know it most often does. Also, what is the maker of this bayonet it is one large circle with a smaller circle inside and an even smaller cirlcle below that one. Sorry for the bad lighting on the pictures. They came out smaller that I expected
thanks


LARGER PICTURES IN REPLY #4

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[surpman1911]

more pictures

[Aragorn243]

The photos are too small to see much of anything. In any case, $30 is a great deal for almost any bayonet.

[surpman1911]

here are the larger photos sorry about that

[Aragorn243]

The bayonet was made by Nagoya. The brass you see is probably brazing from a repair of a crack. The scabbard is probably made of steel. Check it with a magnet. The throat brass is also probably from brazing. I don't know enough about the frogs to know if this is an original or not but if it is, it's a very nice addition and adds greatly to the value. A possible drawback, it looks like the blade has been cleaned excessively and if so, really hurts the value, it looks like some wire wheel marks or file marks in the last photo. It could just be the flash, hard to tell from photos sometimes.

[surpman1911]

Yes the magnet sticks so it is steel. The blade hasnt been cleaned in any way but there are small areas with scuffs. What do you think the value is of this piece is given the condition?

[Aragorn243]

I'm not a "serious" collector of bayonets. I don't get into the variations or manufacturers so I can't give specific values of most items the way others can. Japanese bayonets are more driven by manufacturer than some other countries. Nagoya from what I have read it not a common marking. They only produced bayonets for two years and the number is under 100,000. Compare that to millions of Tokyo/Kokura. But I don't know how that alone affects the value. It isn't necessarily how many were made but how many survived and how many are seeking. All that considered, Nagoya produced bayonets are one of the most commonly seen today. Based on what I see on ebay (what they actually sell for, not what people ask), I'd value the bayonet and scabbard in the condition it is in (which isn't great) at about $60. The Frog could add $20-$40.

When new, your bayonet would have been blued, both blade and handle. The blade would have been smoothly finished. It is now pitted and lacking of finish, thus my speculation it has been cleaned. It should not be shiny like that and the pitting is lacking rust. The scabbard also would be smooth with a nice blued finish. It is heavily corroded with a very rough finish. The frog looks to be in better condition than most but it far from mint.

As of this morning, there is a Nagoya bayonet on ebay that looks like it just came out of the factory with a very clean frog with 8 bids and a current bid price of $114.50. With 14 hours to go, I would expect that to go up some before the bids are done.

[NRA]

30.00 you stole it

[surpman1911]

while the condition isn't very desirable and the blade was probrably cleaned by the man's uncle, the fact that this was taken back by His uncle during the war makes the story behind it more interesting to me than the actual value of it. I may buy one in better condition later but for now I need to look for a rifle to accompany it

[browningautorifle]

That's the part I like, this one's most likely a battlefield pick up. It doesn't help value, just nostalgia. I like that sort of thing. Looks well used and an honest piece.