Kawakami Gensai's sword

Ive heard about the story about Kawakami Gensai and I was wondering, after he got killed or executed, what happened to his sword?

I'm guessing it just got sold off to merchants..

 

Why? You want it?
Im not sure whos Kavakami Gensai...but sounds familiar. Oh, is that the short assasin that the character of Kenshin was based on? The one that got gunned down?

 

hmmmm... he was tried on false charges in 1876 and beheaded. Like Shishio he was realized to be a threat to the new era. However, his sword was probably destroyed or the executioner kept it. When a samurai was beheaded by a Kaishakunin, their own sword was used, that way if something went wrong, it could be blamed on the samurai not the kaishakunin. After that it was hard to say what would happen to a sword. especially in these times of turbulence.