Harvey Withers can not tell a repro from a real sword??

Harvey Withers is at it again. Having been told a sword he was selling was a repro by a number of real experts (which Harvey is not), Harvey went ahead and sold the fake sword anyway! This time he was caught selling a reproduction WW2 Japanese NCO's shin gunto katana red handed. Mr. Withers was duly advised of the fact it was a cheap Pakistani made copy, yet he decided to go ahead and sell it to some poor idiot anyway.

Here is that nasty, ugly, fake NCO katana on his web site, duly marked as "sold". Just ask any WW2 militaria expert; what Harvey sold was a 1990's repro. Notice the sarute loop; wrong, wrong, wrong. Notice the painted fuchi; wrong, wrong, wrong. Notice the position of the bohi / fuller / groove; wrong, wrong, wrong. Nasty repro. Nasty Harvey Withers. I say Harvey Withers belongs in jail, that he is selling these things knowingly and deliberately.








OK, OK, anyone can make a mistake, even a self-alleged expert like Harvey Withers. So my offer to him is as always, Harvey; 1) Allow other collectors to point out and debate any alleged repros / misdescribed items you are selling, 2) Contact all the various people (such the person who bought the above katana) you have mis-sold to and give them an unreserved apology and unconditional refund (including shipping costs), and I will let the world know that you have done these things on this blog (and hopefully never have cause to report your antics ever again). Come on Harvey, step up, refund those who got less then they paid for and I will gladly report you have been honorable over this.

Harvey Withers, SWORD FRAUD, CON "MAN" or IDIOT?

Harvey Withers, the self-sold, self-professed expert on antique swords has been at it again, and we have caught him red handed!

Oh look, here is a screen grab of Harvey Wither's "British Military Swords", on which he sells krap, masquerading it as authentic or something it is not.

Here is a screen grab of a sword Harvey sold to some poor Australian schlep as a British Napoleonic Cavalry Sword. OK, first, if it were a cavalry edged weapon, with that curvature of blade it would be a sabre, not a sword Harvey, you dim whit; some expert. Second, hmmm, I can not seem to find that pattern of cavalry sword / sabre in any reference book Mr. Withers, although it does strongly resemble an infantry sabre of that period! Oh, and the fact it only has a 28 inch blade might, well, make it totally useless as a cavalry sabre, wouldn't you say??!! That's right, Harvey Withers the sword expert and sword reference book author (don't believe a word, he just copied material from other people) has got it very, very wrong.


But, what makes this really bad is a) Harvey was informed of his mistake before he sold this krap, and b) then refused to refund the buyer! Mr. Withers seems to exhibit all the traits of a dope addict rather than a respectable edged weapon militaria dealer and expert, wouldn't you say?