Are swords very valuable?

Posted by adairsawyer on November 5th, 2012

In the arena of swords there are those that have significant value attached to them and there are those that are not worth the sticker price affixed to them.  There are several different factors that need to be taken into account when it comes to attempting to determine the value of a particular sword.  It isn’t necessary to take each and every one of these items to a professional knowledgeable in the field of weapons in order to determine if they are valuable or not.  For the most part the value of the item can be easily determined by addressing the price paid for the purchase of the equipment.

Swords in this day and age are viewed as collectible items.  People that make them by hand, forging them in fire and folding them with a hammer and other metal working blacksmith tools generally ask a higher price for their product than the ones sold in souvenir shops and retail outlets.  One of the ways to immediately identify a sword as possibly having some financial or historic value is by looking for the manufacturers mark.  If it begins with the words, “Made in…” then the product is massed produced on an assembly line and has very little value at all.

In order for any sword to be assigned a monetary or historic value it has to be made by an artisan that is well-known and respected in the weapons manufacturing industry.  It has to be made by hand and constructed of the highest quality materials available.  Swords of this nature do not have a machine stamped manufacturer’s mark indicating the country of origin.  If they have a mark on them at all relating to the point of origin it will be something that the hand crafting artisan has created as a symbol of their expertise.

Certain types of swords are extremely valuable, both monetarily as well as historically.  Ancient artifacts and weapons from antiquity are always considered to have some value attached to them, even if they were the possession of a simple foot soldier.  A sword that has been determined to have come from the ancient battlefield of a long forgotten war is a priceless collectible that will either be displayed in a museum or will find its way into the private sector of the auction and collectible industry.  They will not be placed in such a place where they run the risk of being stolen or damaged.

In order to purchase a sword that has any significant value the interested individual will need to attend an auction where items of this nature are sometimes offered for bidding.  When valuable swords are discovered they are often put up for auction and delivered to the highest bidder.  They do not end up finding their way into the general population for resale.  Anyone that has a sword they would like to have examined for authenticity or value should seek the advice of a professional familiar with weapons of the era the artifact supposedly came from.

Is there a specific type of sword you would like to add to your collection but just can’t seem to find it? Stop by our web site and take a look at the abundance of swords we have in stock.