COREY: Hey, what's up?
Hey, how you doing?
I have a samurai sword that my family's
had for a long, long time.
[music playing]
I really don't know much about it.
COREY: Why is it made out of wood?
Got me on that one.
I mean, it wouldn't really do a lot of damage.
It--
A giant toothpick.
[laugh]
I'm here today at the pawn shop to sell my sword.
My grandfather brought the sword back from World War II,
and it's been in the family ever since.
I was looking to get $8,000 for the sword.
If I walk out of the pawn shop today with $8,000,
I will take my family on a vacation
to a theme park in Florida.
So it looks like you have a scabbard
here, but not the sword.
I mean, the handle looks pretty legit.
Do you know much about it at all?
CRAIG: No, this is from from my grandfather.
He picked it up during the war, and I really don't
know anything more than that.
I deal with samurai swords all the time,
but I've never really dealt with just a case and a handle
for one.
It definitely looks Japanese.
But you know, one of the big problems with stuff like this
is these things were passed down from generation to generation.
It could be 500 years old.
It could be 100 years old.
I have no idea.
They really do range from that kind of time period.
I really don't understand why there's
not a sword attached to it.
I mean, it definitely looks like a mounting for an actual sword.
I just want to know where the real sword's at.
The handle looks like it's made of silk.
The scabbard-- I don't know what material it is that he used.
I mean, it looks like wood, maybe.
So we don't know how old it is.
It looks like it could actually be something here.
I just don't know exactly what it is.
So what are you looking to do with it?
To sell it.
OK.
Any idea of what you're looking to get?
$8,000.
COREY: Do you mind if I have a buddy come in
and take a look at it?
No, I welcome. It'd be great.
COREY: OK.
Hang out.
I'll be right back.
I'm totally fine with someone coming
in today to look at the sword.
I really would like to have more information
about where it came from, how old
it is and, what its value is.
COREY: Hey, Mike.
What's going on, man? - Hey, what's up, Corey?
How you been?
COREY: Doing good.
Hello.
What you got today?
COREY: A weird one.
It's what appears to be an old scabbard.
MIKE: OK.
Well, actually, this is common, believe it or not, in Japan.
After World War II, the occupation,
MacArthur ordered all the swords to get collected.
So that means all the blades were turned in,
but the mountings were OK to keep because these
were not against the law.
They're not a weapon.
COREY: OK.
And this is quite old, actually.
How do we know how old it is?
Well, this style of mount is made in southern Japan.
And this is known as a Higo mount,
which is from the area of Kumamoto in modern-day Japan.
And they were very particular to make
this style of gold inlay work.
Judging from the style, we can pretty
much determine that this whole package
was from the early 1800s.
COREY: Oh, wow.
So what else can you tell me about it?
Interesting.
This is very interesting.
Maybe you get lucky.
It's a hidden coin pocket.
COREY: No way.
These are very rare to find intact.
COREY: Now, I am a little bit of an expert.
Those aren't gold.
No, no, these are definitely not gold.
Unfortunately, somebody put some reproductions in here
and obviously kept the real gold.
So why would they hide it inside the sword like that?
MIKE: You would be afraid to get robbed,
so this was the best place to actually
hide your money in that sense.
COREY: Gotcha.
MIKE: A little holder like this could hold
up to $10,000 worth of coins.
COREY: OK.
Well, too bad we didn't get that lucky, right?
But because of the rarity of this,
this makes this set very highly collectible.
OK.
How collectible?
Well, I mean, in excellent condition like this,
especially with the addition of the hidden coin pocket,
now you're talking something very, very rare and special.
So this thing would be worth, easy, $8,000.
All right, well, appreciate it, Mike.
MIKE: All right. Take care.
Thank you.
See you later.
Well, I mean, you kind of hit the nail on the head
of what it was worth.
That being said, I've got to make some money.
I'd like to give you $4,000.
Could you come up a little bit more than $4,000?
Can you go down from $8,000?
Mm, $6,500.
Tell you what, I'll do $5,000.
$5,000 seems fair.
All right, deal.
- Thank you. - Meet me over there.
Let's do some paperwork.
OK.
I am thrilled to make a deal today for $5,000.
It wasn't quite the $8,000 I was asking for,
but I will certainly be able to take
my family on a nice vacation.