Hi,
I tend to agree with RSword. If it's genuiune, I suspect that parts of the scabbard have been replaced.
It comes close to passing the "profit margin" test. Basically, was it worth a faker's time to make a sword of this quality and sell it at this price? My answer is "maybe." Labor costs would have to be pretty cheap for a talented smith, if it was hand made....
Does it pass the mass production test? Dunno. If 50 others show up, then no. If it's the only one, then why did someone waste the time making the one?
Oh well, in the fabled age of Nanotechnology (yet to come, of course
), they'll be making molecule-perfect replicas of our favorite heirlooms, and this board will be out of the "is it fake" debate.
F