THE LANES ARMOURY INFORMATION PAGE

CONTACT US DIRECT ON 01273 321357. THE LANES ARMOURY AND IT'S WEBSITE SUPPORTS THE THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION & THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN. ЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕWE HEARTILY INVITE YOU TO VISIT ENGLAND'S FAVOURITE ARMOURY, TO SEE THE BEST, ECLECTIC, SELECTION OF ORIGINAL MEDIEVAL WEAPONRY, ORIGINAL JAPANESE SAMURAI SWORDS, ANTIQUE EDGED WEAPONS, MILITARY BOOKS & OLD GUNS IN THE COUNTRY. Listed on the official Visit Brighton Website [www.visitbrighton.com] we are listed as one of the 50 'must see' places any visitor to Brighton & Hove City ought to experience. Alongside the Brighton Pavilion, Brighton Pier, Brighton Marina and Brighton Racecourse we are universally recommended as a truly amazing place to visit. Even though we are not quite the biggest Brighton attraction, many regular visitors tell us we're the best! We will be pleased to supply, on request, our Certificate of Authenticity with any item purchased from The Lanes Armoury. WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE WE ARE NOW A COMPLETELY CARBON NEUTRAL COMPANY. All our items are antique or vintage and therefore no carbon is produced in their manufacture. However, to counteract all the effects of the transport and delivery requirements involved in the purchase and sale of our items, we are planting new trees on the family farm .

GIFT VOUCHERS

For those who would like to buy a gift but wish to leave the choice to the recipient, a GIFT VOUCHER may be the perfect choice. There are different value vouchers in every dept. They are all valid without time limit, for any type of item/s. If the amount you wish to buy is not listed please order the next lowest amount available and state your actual figure required in the 'Comment' section. Gift vouchers can be for any amount as required please place the amount desired in the 'Comment' section. For any exchange that is for less than the face value of the Gift Voucher a new Voucher shall be issued to the named holder for the remaining amount.

Japanese Items. REPRODUCTION JAPANESE SWORDS

As from the April 2008 'Reproduction Samurai Swords' are to be banned from sale or hire in the UK. This does not effect us, our clients, or our collectors in any way. We only sell Original Samurai Swords, and these are not effected at all. All forms of our Original Japanese Weaponry Arms and Armour, Antique Samurai Swords, Antique Samurai Wakizashi, Antique Samurai Tanto Daggers, Armour, Art etc, from all periods, will only be found in the 'Japanese' department in their relevant 'Select Department..'.section.The ages these items were made or used in will be described in the recognized Japanese Era and Period Terms. If you are unfamiliar with these please see the Era and Period guide below or e.mail us for details as required. Most WW2 Officers swords are listed under 'Tachi' not 'Katana' as they were usually mounted in the ancient Tachi style. What generally differentiates the different swords is their length. Japanese swords are measured in units of shaku, a shaku being around 30cm or one foot). A blade shorter than 1 shaku is considered a tanto (knife). A blade longer than 1 shaku but less than 2 is considered a shoto (short sword). The wakizashi and kodachi are in this category. A blade longer than 2 shaku is considered a daito, or long sword. Before 1500 most swords were worn suspended from cords on a belt, blade-down. This style is called jindachi-zukuri, and daito worn in this fashion are called tachi (average blade length of 75 cm). From 1500 Ц 1867, almost all swords were worn through an obi, paired with a smaller blade. Both blades were blade-up. This style is called buke-zukuri, and all daito worn in this fashion are katana, averaging 65 cm in blade length. Dating of Japanese edged weaponry is done with great care, but it can on occasion be quite difficult as styles, forms and designs can vary very subtly, the eras that a blade is designated as being from is judged as most likely, by opinion, but it can be later or even earlier. The age of an edged weapon always relate to it's blade not the external fittings. We do, on occasion, have the requirement for some Japanese blades to be re-polished. We do not have them polished 'traditional style' in Japan, as the costs, time, and risks involved [not to mention the punitive import duty costs, paid in the UK, for items returning from abroad] are too great. We have them polished domestically, at far more reasonable cost, time, and risk.

WE ARE SEEKING NEW ITEMS EVERY DAY

Many items you see on our site have taken us great efforts to acquire, involving the traveling of thousands of miles, and we urgently wish to buy similar items from those seeking to sell. We can be contacted by telephone on; 01273 321357, or, email us at; mail@thelanesarmoury.co.uk, or, simply write to; The Lanes Armoury, 26 Meetinghouse Lane, Brighton, East Sussex BN11HB. All transactions are accomplished with the very highest courtesy, and full discretion and confidentiality is assured.

VISITORS TO BRIGHTON

If you plan to visit Mark and David Hawkins in Brighton, England, you are always most welcome to come and see us, at what is known locally as the world famous shop-museum called THE LANES ARMOURY. Hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists come to see us every year, many returning to us over and over again, amazed at our display of unique ANTIQUE SWORDS, OLD SWORDS, Long Guns , Flintlocks and Pistols in fact all manner of Arms, Armour and Books, where, unlike regular, small and National Museums, everything is for sale!. Please note, we sell only original or collector's items .We do not sell fantasy swords or weapons. Please ask for details for our consignment terms if required.

Price on Application

'Price on application' may be seen on a very few of our stock items, this means for any interested party, to enquire direct to the seller [The Lanes Armoury], by email or telephone, regarding the price required. The price on our site for these items appears to be displayed as г0 .This is due to how the site system works. This is not the asking price of course, and we apologize for any confusion that may occur.

'Pro Bono' help for collectors

Dealing as we have for many decades we are very pleased to help out collectors or just 'discoverers' of old militaria, arms, armour, and books with advice or identification. We do not however give out valuations, just free identification. We make no charge for this at all, but, we can't always respond immediately [we get dozens of enquiries every day] so please be patient, or send another e.mail after a week or so. We try our best to reply to all your queries and hopefully we can help in most cases, but please remember, although we have handled many hundreds of thousands of items in our time there is no limit to the amount we haven't handled, so, sometimes we simply just don't know. However, we may know someone who can help, and we will be pleased to recommend others, who possibly, may be more helpful. Regrettably we can't supply valuations without a personal visit. Opinions that we offer on photographs of items we receive by post or e.mail are provisional only until a hand held inspection, if required, can be undertaken.

Old Swords, Japanese Swords, 1796 Swords, Samurai Swords and Books at The Lanes in Brighton

As you will see we are one of the foremost sources of collector's items, in the world of Antique Military Books, Swords and Militaria. You can regularly see our shop, and the partners, Mark & David, on the BBC and numerous other British TV and Satellite channels. We have appeared frequently in glossy magazines all over the world and our stock regularly features in dozens of Movies and even Computer Games. We sell online, and from our shop, Items from the Ancient and Antediluvian era, Swords, Antique Samurai Swords, Samurai Wakazashi, American Swords, Sword Sticks & British Swords, we also stock Brown Bess Muskets, Light Cavalry Pistols, Baker Rifles, Martini Henry Rifles, Colt Revolvers, Remington Revolvers and Guns and Pistols of all eras including the American Civil War and other Wild West Pistols. We also sell Medals, Badges, thousands of Books, Helmets, German WW2 items, Russian weapons, Blunderbuss, Armour, Suits of Armour, Armor, both Japanese and European [however, these may be photographed on our website for sale with swords or pole arms, these are for display purposes only and not included with the Armour unless specified]. We sell Flags & Hire Deactivated Guns etc. [these factory made weapons may be displayed with generic photos]. Please contact us at The Armoury in Brighton [in The Lanes] or visit us personally. We are also very happy, when possible, to provide [for items purchased from the Lanes Armoury] translations of foreign inscriptions that may be on various guns and swords, however, they are third party interpretations of vintage text for information only, and we cannot be responsible for the accuracy of the translation or the text. If any errors are noticed in our descriptive text please let us know and we will be happy make any corrections as necessary.

Packing & Shipping

Our packing is undertaken with extreme care and fastidiousness, and all and every effort is made to ensure our excellent 'Safe Arrival' record remains unblemished. We use the best materials available and all packages are inspected twice, independently, before dispatch. However, this does mean delivery can take a little bit longer, but we feel safety and protection is paramount. Antique Guns sent to the US and Canada are now taking much longer due to new restrictions, please see below for the section on the latest delivery costs for guns to North America. Please be patient we will try our best but long delays now are quite normal. If you require items urgently though please ask and every effort will be made to expedite sooner. Sorry, Deactivated arms cannot normally be shipped to the USA. If our European clients buy de-activated or antique arms from us it is the responsibility of the client to explore all local legislation as to import regulations, we cannot be responsible for any non UK regulations.

Eras and Periods in Japanese and British Weapon Making History & Terminology

JAPANESE; CHOKUTO or KEN up to 900 [Heian 749-1191 Kamakura 1192-1336],ЕЕЕЕ. KOTO 900 to 1595 [Nambokochu 1333 to 1391, Muramachi 1392-1573, Momayama 1574-1602]ЕЕЕЕЕ. SHINTO from 1596 to 1781 [Edo 1599 to 1867]ЕЕЕЕ. SHIN-SHINTO from 1781 to 1876ЕЕЕ.. Modern era MEIJI, TAISHO, SHOWA [GENDAITO, SHOWATO,] from 1876 to Current day [SHINSHAKUTO]ЕЕSaya = Scabbard, Tsuka = Hilt, Nakago = Tang, Mekugi = Tang Peg, Same = Giant Ray Skin, Tsuba = Sword Guard, Hamon = Blade Temper Line, Shinken = Live Blade, Mumei = Unsigned by the Smith on the Tang, Gimei = Not the Blade Smith on the Tang, Kissaki = Blade End, Koshirae = Sword Furniture ЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕ...BRITISH ERAS: ANGLO SAXON -NORMAN, 600 to 1154ЕЕЕЕ. MEDIAEVIL, 1066 to 1500 approxЕЕЕЕ...TUDOR [HenryVII to Elizabeth I] 1485-1603,Е.. STUART [James I to Queen Anne] 1603-1714 [Interregnum 1649 to 1660], William IIIrd 1689-1702, Queen Anne 1702-1714, ЕЕЕЕ.. GEORGIAN [George I to William IV] 1714 to 1837,ЕЕЕЕ. VICTORIAN [Victoria] 1837 -1901,ЕЕЕЕЕ. EDWARDIAN [Edward VII] 1901-1910, ЕЕЕЕ.. Modern Era Е.George Vth 1910 to 1936, .. Edward VIIIth 1936,.. George VIth, 1936 to 1953,.. Elizabeth IInd 1953 to Current day.

Long Polearms and Extra Long Muskets or Arquebuss

The overseas delivery for very long items by Air Delivery is limited to 1.5 meters in length. As it can be expensive to deliver single articles by shipping them Sea Freight, some over-long items are not prudent to send abroad. Polearms can, however, have the shaft cut in half and very simply re-affixed at the destination [either personally, by the buyer, or by a basic carpenter]. This has been the accepted method of transporting polearms for many, many, years and is perfectly suitable and effective.

OUR ANNOUNCEMENTS, CONDITIONS, AND INFORMATION PAGE

NONE OF OUR ITEMS REQUIRE LICENCES OR ARE RESTRICTED TO OWN OR COLLECT. WE DO NOT SELL EDGED WEAPONRY OR ARMS TO ANY PERSON UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE. Our website on Arms & Armour & Books is now updated with new additions [and deletions] every two hours. There are different forms of searches on our site, if you click 'other searches' you may also search by keyword/s or stock numbers. Then click 'category search' to return to normal. Every effort is made to be accurate in our stock descriptions, however, if you notice any errors or spelling mishaps please feel free to let us know and we will be pleased to rectify them. Some items of Military Kit, such as Military Cap Badges and Buckles etc etc are Silver and / or Gold in colour, this is not to infer they are solid Silver or Gold unless they are Hallmarked, and if so they will be stated in the description as such ie. 'Hallmarked Silver' or 'Hallmarked Gold'. In regard to the embellishment and the furniture of weaponry, the 'Act of 1738' [the Plate [Offences] Act 1738, & the 1738 exemptions] exempted the requirement of an assay mark for gold and silver mounts of swords, daggers, pistols and guns. Therefore on the many weapons that may be fitted with solid silver mounts [for example] no hallmarks will be present, unless stated otherwise. Regarding Webshop photos, for items that are Generic, such as Pattern Swords or De-activated Military Arms we may use generic photographs, but for illustrative purposes only.

Exchange Rates for Non UK Based Clients

With the constant fluctuation in the world's currency exchange rates we try to update our exchange rate guide fairly regularly in respect to the three main rates of Pounds Sterling, US Dollars and Euros. However, our exchange rates are for general guide purposes only, we are only able to charge for each sale in our domestic currency of Pounds Sterling, and the current prevailing conversion rate is then charged by the purchaser's bankers or charge/credit card issuers. This rate may differ, either up or down, from our guide rate.

GUN DELIVERIES TO THE US & CANADA

We are experiancing some cost and delivery difficulties in shipping antique guns to North America. Since July 2007 British arms dealers or collectors are no longer able to use regular British Express Air Mail Post to send arms airmail, but only Arms Shipping Companies. Shipping Companies delivery rates start at around г350 per arm [considerably more paperwork and customs agents services are required]. Therefore, only expensive guns, or groups of guns, can be shipped economically. We are trying to seek alternative cheaper methods. All other items are completely unaffected. Delivery rates for gun purchases in our basket system are set at the current European delivery rate, and are now not applicable for North America.

BOOKS

Please see our shop in The Sunday Times Culture Magazine in the Book section March 2006. As with our old site, we have many thousands of books, and as books are our largest single selling line we have just too many pass through our hands to even begin to list them all in stock. Please e.mail us if you seek a particular item you don't see available. We are, as usual, actively seeking rare old books with a historical interest, we have an urgent request for a numbered second edition "The 7 Pillars of Wisdom", by T.E. Lawrence. Please contact us if you may be able to help. Please contact us personally for all our consignment terms for all types of items, we will be happy to send you a copy. Special discounts can be arranged for the purchase of books in excess of 50 in one order.

In Memoriam

Lord Michael Fitzalen Howard 22nd October 1916 -November 2nd 2007. Serving as a Squadron Leader in the 3rd Scots Guards in Normandy in WW2 he won the M.C. in 1944. In 1964 Fitzalan Howard became the first commander of the Allied Mobile Force in Europe, then chief of staff, Southern Command, and, finally, GOC, London District, and major-general commanding the Household Division. He was colonel of the Lancashire Regiment from 1966 to 1970, then of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment until 1978.In retirement he became Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps in 1982 and, after the assassination of Lord Mountbatten in 1979, Gold Stick in Waiting and Colonel of the Life Guards for the next 20 years. He was also chairman of the Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve Council. In the mid-1980s he was involved in the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League as the driving force behind Prince Philip's appeal which raised almost г3 million for those who had fallen on hard times. He was appointed MVO in 1953, CBE in 1962, CB in 1968, KCVO in 1971 and GCVO in 1981. His late Lordship was a valued customer since the 1970's. He once amusingly remarked his desire for us to locate for him drum of the Life Guards Regt. For, although he was their Colonel for 20 years, he had never been offered one for him to keep as a souvenir, even though [in his words] '' I have dropped enough hints, but I suppose they couldn't understand why I didn't already have one''


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