Sadly none of these swords, owned or pictured are genuine antiques but are of a very modern type, in some instances made to look older than they are.
Very few auction houses know what they are selling, they do it for the commissions and commissions out with every sale. This can be said too for specialist auction houses... I too have been fooled by clever images, lucky enough to be provided a full refund once substantiated.
Full length Jian prior to the Republican types and some of the more common pattern later Qing examples are simply extremely hard to find. I've have friends and clients on want lists here who have been chasing one for near a decade... and I actively seek such things daily.
Don't despair though, it is all a learning curve and plan to put some decent money aside to secure a genuine old one....
If you want something to practice with, there are a good many modern faithful reproductions... or choose a nice Republication example like this example pictured...
The one pictured is what I call a lucky find. That activity within the blade is actually hidden under an original bright steel polish... it is just the camera angle that bought it forth.
For collecting, dig a little deeper in to museum collections in the UK and USA... and there are a good many smaller museums elsewhere around the world with good material to study.
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