Sheaffer Pen Identification Help

[Captspiff]

Any idea what the pen in the middle is?I think it might be a flat top junior with the wrong cap? I am just getting into Sheaffer collecting so any info or know that can be imparted on me would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Edited September 21, 2018 by Captspiff

[Freddy]

Captspiff...follow the url interesting read re Sheaffer flat-bottom Balance pens..

http://fountainpenboard.com/forum/index.php?/topic/256-sheaffer-balance-flat-bottom-pens/

Fred

[Roger W.]

It is a K74SC. K is for black and pearl also called "DeLuxe". 74 is the size nib. S is for Short and C is for Clip. Not sure why you think it is the wrong cap. "Junior" is not a designation for this pen.

 

Roger W.

[Captspiff]

Thanks for all the info! That make sense sorry I am new to this just learning the models and thanks for correcting my mistake.

[JonSzanto]

Not sure why you think it is the wrong cap.

 

I think there is a pretty straight-forward reason for this, Roger: take off your Sheaffer expert/knowledge hat for a moment and put yourself in the place of a person new to the hobby. You look at a pen and you see one end is flat and one end is pointed. You've done some basic looking at photos of old pens and you see pens with flat ends and pens with pointy/rounded ends; what you don't see - unless you spend a lot of time looking, not something a new person has done - what you don't see is a mix of the two end styles.

 

I think it's a valid assumption for a new person to make: "Is this a mismatch?"

 

Sometimes you have to take a step or two back to view things from another person's perspective.

 

*****

 

Along those lines: in the following pic, the K8AC pen - is this a pen that existed for only a very short time, using up the flat barrels as rounded were introduced? This is from the 1930 catalog and IIRC, black and pearl entered in 29 or so, and flat ends started going away with the introduction of the Balance, so this odd bird couldn't have lasted long. I don't have documentation on the years directly on either side. I'm sure this is child's play to you, but these elements can be pretty opaque unless you've spent years studying and chatting up the subject.

 

Edited September 22, 2018 by JonSzanto

[Glenn-SC]

 

I think there is a pretty straight-forward reason for this, Roger: take off your Sheaffer expert/knowledge hat for a moment and put yourself in the place of a person new to the hobby.

 

+1

[Roger W.]

Problem is I didn't really read the question and thought he asked about the fourth pen so that is bad on me. The third pen is a K74AC (smaller than the ad copy of the K8AC). The largest problem with these pens is - is it a legitimate pen? If it came from the wild it is probably OK. If it comes from a dealer it is harder to say it isn't just a match up of parts. The gold standard would be if it has its original xxAC sticker.

 

As to the availability of flattop barrels to make these up. We know flattops, while in small numbers, were made into WWII. Therefore there is no prohibition of these being made for years and possibly with flatball clips as the only catalog available until the mid 1930's was the 1930 catalog (though I don't know if I've seen such stickered). That takes us back to the gold standard having the original sticker especially for ACs/ARs (ringtops) pens.

 

Roger W.

[Captspiff]

Thanks for the info everyone. I think the pen is authentic, it came from the storage unit of a 90 year old lady. Its a moot point I am going to just enjoy the pen and have fun writing with it. I have been a modern pen person for a long time and now am realizing how vintage pens can have more character and are fun to restore.