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I would like to request this Pelikan forum's help identifying the model of my newly inherited (but vintage) Pelikan fountain pen. My uncle, the original owner, told me that it was a Souveran M600, but I noticed that it is about the same size as my own modern M800 (140mm in length), yet it has a 14kt bi-color gold and rhodium nib like the M600s do. The cap ring has the inscription: "PELIKAN W.-GERMANY" so I guess the pen was manufactured prior to October 3, 1990. Any information would be much appreciated!

As a Pelikan enthusiast and collector, I always keep my eye on the used pen market looking for examples that would work towards my collecting goals. It drives me crazy to see almost every Pelikan listed as Rare, Very Rare, or even Ultra Rare despite being run of the mill common models but that is a different matter. What this gets at though is that sellers seem to be asking top dollar for pens that are in no way extraordinary. Recently, I have had several conversations with people and have seen several listings that got me to thinking and I wanted to solicit your advice. The issue is in regards to the cap band stamping of "W.-Germany" versus "Germany" and how that impacts the value of the pen. Many people have suggested to me recently that a pen stamped "W.-Germany" has a higher intrinsic value than one stamped "Germany" even though two pens may be identical otherwise. Personally, I have never put a premium on the "W.-Germany" stamped pens and treat them as I do the others. Now I'm not sure if I'm mistaken in my thought process or whether various sellers are simply looking to maximize their sale by exploiting any facet of the pen that they can thereby creating a false premium. Looking through my collection of 96 Pelikan fountain pens, 10 are marked "W.-Germany" and 86 are marked "Germany." My question then is; what is the concensus? Should more money be expected and paid just because the pen has the "W.-Germany" stamp or should its value be considered no different than the identical pen produced a year or two after reunification. I look forward to your input and discussion on this.