Road to becoming the wealthiest: Starting From Treasure Hunting in the Cabinets
Chapter 93: Does This Count as Solid Evidence?

Chapter 93: Chapter 93: Does This Count as Solid Evidence?

Arriving in New York City, Sean Knight parked the car in a parking lot and then carefully picked up the short-handle sword that looked like a Tang sword.

He gently pulled it, but couldn’t draw it out.

It must be rusted.

However, he could feel that it was movable, so he tried harder, but not too much force, and finally drew the sword out after some effort.

The blade was relatively straight, with only a bevel at the tip.

Looking at it, it seemed like an iron sword, but there were parts of the blade without rust, which seemed like steel.

The handle of the sword was wooden, with an unknown type of wood clamped to the iron bar integrated with the blade.

The six characters "天寶八載錢文" were inscribed on the handle, each character slightly larger than a soybean.

Sean put the sword back into its sheath and started searching online.

He thought the "天寶八載" was a bit awkward, as it normally would indicate a certain year, but why was it "loaded"?

After looking it up online, he found out that it was indeed changed from "年" to "载" at that time!

Was this conclusive evidence?

Further searching about Tang swords, he found that there seemed to be only about a dozen still in existence, and most of them were in Japan.

The preservation of this sword in his hand was not very good, and its appearance was a bit worse than those existing ones.

However, Sean was already very satisfied. If this was a real Tang sword, even if it was not a national treasure level, it would be very rare!

He happily placed the sword on the passenger seat and then took out the Japanese Samurai sword with the inscription.

This sword was well preserved, with almost no rust on the blade body. The silk threads wrapped around the handle had decayed, exposing the copper clip inside.

There were black marks on the blood groove of the blade, not sure if it had been stained with blood. The iron sword sheath also had some rust, but it was not serious.

The other several swords also had varying degrees of rust, but overall, they were in good condition.

Sean made a phone call to Mr. John and told him about the saddle, Samurai swords, and the motorcycle.

Mr. John pondered for a while and said:

"I remember there seems to be a Chinese collector who collects these things, but I’m not very familiar with him. Here’s the contact information, you can talk to him yourself.

As for the motorcycle, I’ll give you a used goods store. You can go there and see. That saddle should also be able to be sold there."

After getting the phone number, Sean dialed it.

The man’s name was Harry Roberts and he was a private collector.

"Hello." A gentle voice came from the other end, speaking English.

"Hello, Mr. Roberts, my name is Sean Knight," Sean said, "I have a few Japanese Samurai swords on hand. I wonder if you are interested?"

"Chinese?" Harry’s voice on the other end raised slightly.

"Yes," Sean answered, this time in Mandarin.

"Hahahaha, of course, I’m interested!" Harry Roberts replied in slightly accented Mandarin, "Mr. Knight, when are you free?"

"Right now." Sean answered with a smile, "If Mr. Roberts is available..."

"Of course I am!" The man gave an address, which Sean noted down.

On the way to Harry Roberts’ place, Sean found that it was a private museum.

Harry Roberts was tall. Sean, who was 1.82 meters tall, was still half a head shorter than him. Seeing Sean get out of the car, he immediately welcomed him with a smile.

Sean was holding the seven Samurai swords, so he couldn’t shake hands. Instead, he nodded at Harry Roberts.

Entering the museum, Sean found that there were no visitors at the moment.

"Put them here," Harry Roberts pointed to an empty table in the middle, "Let me have a look."

Sean put down the swords and glanced around the museum, noticing that there were indeed many Samurai swords, rifles, water bottles, and other old military items on display.

As Harry Roberts put on gloves, he explained to Sean:

"My museum mainly collects items from the World War II period. There are many things to collect here in New York, but it’s difficult to get those from domestic sources."

Sean nodded to show that he understood.

Harry Roberts carefully examined the Samurai swords.

Out of the seven, six were standard issue and didn’t have much collection value, so he quickly set them aside.

He picked out the one with the inscription and took a closer look.

After a while, he simply brought tools and said to Sean:

"Mr. Knight, I intend to disassemble this sword handle and look at the exact inscription – you don’t mind, do you? Oh, by the way, I’m definitely going to collect this sword. Such inscribed swords are really rare."

Sean laughingly said:

"Go ahead, you’re the expert."

"Let’s agree on this then, I’ll price according to the inscription," Harry Roberts didn’t disassemble it directly, but firstly discussed the price, "For these ordinary Samurai swords, I’ll offer 300 dollars each. As for this one..."

He pointed at the one with the inscription and said:

"This must be custom-made. The swordsmith was neither big nor small in popularity, so it’s definitely in a certain circle.

So, the price is higher, 1,000 dollars per character, I’ll give you 4,000 dollars for this sword, how about it?"

Sean nodded his agreement.

These Samurai swords were additional items, and he had already made several times the profit, totally worth it.

Seeing Sean’s decisiveness, Harry Roberts was a little surprised, but he didn’t say anything else. He paid the money and started disassembling the sword handle.

Sean saw that Harry Roberts was busy and said:

"Mr. Roberts, you can continue with your work. I’ll leave now. I still have some things to sell."

"Alright, let me walk you out." Harry Roberts put down his work and accompanied Sean out, asking as they walked:

"What other things do you have? Can I take a look?"

"An old saddle, an old motorcycle," Sean pointed at the inside of the car, "I think Mr. Roberts might not be interested."

Indeed, Harry Roberts had no interest.

As Sean was about to leave, Mr. Roberts noticed the sword in the passenger seat. Mr. Roberts, with a twinkle in his eye, hurriedly said to Sean:

"Mr. Knight, that sword of yours..."

"That sword is not for sale," Sean shook his head, "I haven’t confirmed its age yet, so I plan to study it."

Mr. Roberts had a look of regret on his face but still didn’t give up:

"Can I take a look at it?"

Sean hesitated for a moment, but then carefully handed the Tang sword to Harry Roberts.

Harry Roberts examined the sword carefully and said:

"The handle of this sword has been replaced."

He then gently tugged at the sheath, but it didn’t move.

Sean said:

"Use a little force."

Harry Roberts had already wanted to, but was concerned that Sean wouldn’t agree. Now that Sean agreed, he applied a bit more force and drew the sword out.

As soon as the sword was drawn, Harry’s eyes were fixed on the blade, and he couldn’t look away!

"Is... Is this a Tang sword?"

Harry Roberts’ hands trembled as he held the sword.

He looked up at Sean, as if seeking confirmation of the answer.

Sean smiled and said:

"Mr. Roberts, you are the expert in this field. I’m just suspicious, thinking that it looks a bit like it..."

"It’s not just a bit like it! It’s exactly the same in shape!" Harry Roberts looked down at the sword, "You see this blade, this sword tip, the characteristic straight blade opening –"

Seeing Harry’s excited expression, Sean couldn’t help but worry that the sword might be crushed by his grip.