Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

Greetings All,

I recently received an unsolicited e-mail from a Pawel Nowak, whose e-mail address is Golden_Treasure_4@hotmail.com. Mr. Nowak claimed to have an 18th-century katana for sale. When I asked him for more details, he sent me several photos, along with the following text:

I have found your address surfing on the Internet. The blade (Blade Length: 28.75 inches Nakago: 7.25 inches .7 mm thick 30 mm wide) I am talking about I have got from one man, Mr. Milakow from California. That was a few years ago. His grandfather was an American officer who served in the US Army during the WWII on Pacific. He was a POW and after the war, he got the sword from one of the Japanese officers. The sword has a WWII wear but the blade, according to the swordsman is from the first part of the XVIII century. If you look at the signs on the blade you will see I am wright. I have a Custom Declaration which prove the that is an ntique, genuine Japanese sword. The declaration shows the value of 750$.

I am not a collector. I am an archivist who has an interest in Maritime History. I live in Poland. I am just before my next research trip to Spain and I am looking for the additional funds. So, I could sell it for the fee of $400. If you think you could have any interest in such sword, please let me know. I could also send my ID Passport and references and credentials I have got in Spanish and English archives to show you that I am a honest man.

Even assuming that all is as Mr. Nowak says, I am not going to attempt to make this purchase. There are too many things that could go wrong.

It's also possible that this is a scam. After all, $400 for an 18th-century signed 29-inch blade in good condition is a great price --- maybe too good to be true.

Did anyone else receive this message? I will be happy to forward the pictures to anyone who is interested.

Jim Sorrentino

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

Jim: I typed in his name on yahoo search and the 11th entry down had this (he was trying to sell some history document). Pawel Nowak is a liar, thief and con artist. DO NOT do business with this individual as he will gladly promise you whatever you want to hear, take your money and deliver excuses. If you have your doubts, contact me or search the web for postings by others he's burned.

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

The above guy posting the beware message was Steve Lawson in response to this ad.

Dear Sir,

I am an independent researcher and I have a great collection of archival documents related to the Spanish ships which sank in Florida, Bahama, Cuba and Caribbean waters over the centuries. I also have some XVII and XVIII century nautical charts which shows the position of the Spanish shipwrecks in Florida and Bahama waters. I have found these documents in the Spanish archives like Archivo General de Indias in Seville and Archivo General de Simancas. If you think you could have any interest in such documentation, please let me know.

If you notice, the reference to the centuries uses the same Roman numerals. Makes me suspicious that it is the same guy.

John

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

You could also demand that he meet you at a business where appraisals can be done before you pay a dime.

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

Thanks for the replies! I ran "Pawel Nowak" through Google and got this:

http://www.thetreasuredepot.com/cgi-...ames;read=1230

and this:

http://www.senac.com/forums/7853/bin/516.html

Perhaps he'll make a mistake and approach some of Hiroaki Kobayashi-sensei's students in Poland. The results would be entertaining...

Jim

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

!!!!! Warning....!!!!!

This guy is known to be a fraud. http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/show...ht=Pawel+Nowak

Buyer be extremely ware...
RT

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

Hi everyone -
I too have recently received an unsolicited email from Mr Nowak,
as follows:

"Dear Sir,

I have a Japanese sword (katana) with the XVIII century blade and I would like to sell it for the fee of $400. I have all the papers which shows I am a curent holder of the item. If you think you could have any interest in such item, please let me know.

With respect,

Pawel T. Nowak
Pawel_Tomasz_Nowak@yahoo.com"

As you can see, it is from a different email address.

I'm glad that others were thoughtful enough to post on this topic based
on previous experience.

Best wishes for the future -
Robin Wilton

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

Hi folks,

Just wanted to warn people that "Pawel Nowak" and "Tomasz Nowak" are at it again with his spam/scam:
Both times, his e-mail address used was Shipwrecks.Research@yahoo.com.

A couple of other threads discussing this can be found at:

http://www.aikidojournal.com/forums/...pic.php?t=6450
http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7412

-- Jun

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

Oh my god,
That's the e-mail address my solicitor in Zimbabwe uses...

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

ROFL!!!!

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

George.... youre one funny guy....ROFL!!!!!

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

"Paul Nowicki"??? Oh my god guys, he's right here on this forum! LOL

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

Alas, Pawel Nowak is indeed a liar, thief and all around scam artist. I didn't know about his sword scams, but he is very well known on militaria sites for trying to sell medals he doesn't own. I should know, I fell for it! He ripped me off $235US, but there could be light at the end of the tunnel! I have my own site, and we have dedicated a forum for Pawel, and my 2IC has been having some fun with him. See here:

http://www.feldpost.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2106

I'm not an aikido man at all, but I joined so you could see what he's been up to. We do have an edged weapons forum, so if any of you would like to display photos of your swords etc, please feel free to do so. If we can arrange for some 'friends' to go and pay Pawel a visit, now we have his home address, I'll keep you all posted! :)

Troy

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

He's still at it. Or at it again.
I recently received an email from him saying that they just salvaged a wrecked Japanese ship and have an antique sword that came from the wreckage to sell. What I would do with a sword that was under the salt water for 1 years, I don't know. But I'm sure someone is going to buy into it.
I'm sure regular readers wouldn't fall for it. But there's a steady flow of newbies who may get taken in.
If you want to buy sword talk to your teacher or come here and find some reputable dealers. What ever you do stay away from this guy.

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

URGENT NEWS UPDATE

The most esteemed Pawel Nowak has just been elected as Businessman of the Year by the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce.

:hypno: :freaky: :crazy: :yuck:

Marc Abrams

Re: Sword for sale? Caveat emptor.
 

Too funny.

Pawel Tomasz Nowak - sword scam
 

Hi all,

This came up some years ago, but Pawel Tomasz Nowak is at it again. He tried to sell a 17th century sword on the Yoshinkan List for $700.

Keep you eye out for the 'too good to be true" sales.

Spike

Re: Pawel Tomasz Nowak - sword scam
 

Thank you for the heads up. Will pass that along my channels.