What Is The Oldest Pen In Your Collection?

[Motomo]

waterman safety pen from WWI and a Wahl military clip pen same era. Both BCHR

[Shangas]

I bought two pens today, one 51 and one vaccummatic(?), I guess the vaccummatic must be from WWII

 

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9791/sam0514z.jpg

 

The Parker is an aerometric filler. So that dates it to 1948 at least (and well after WWII).

 

The vacumatic (two c's, not three), can be roughly dated, I understand, by the plunger. During the War, steel was an important commodity, so vacumatics that were manufactured during the War were fitted with plastic plungers instead of metal ones.

[Kaptenmork]

I bought two pens today, one 51 and one vaccummatic(?), I guess the vaccummatic must be from WWII

 

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9791/sam0514z.jpg

 

The Parker is an aerometric filler. So that dates it to 1948 at least (and well after WWII).

 

The vacumatic (two c's, not three), can be roughly dated, I understand, by the plunger. During the War, steel was an important commodity, so vacumatics that were manufactured during the War were fitted with plastic plungers instead of metal ones.

 

Thanks! The vacumatic have a plastic plunger. How about the 51, I guess its from 60-something, any idea how to narrow down the date?

[Shangas]

51s are dated by the barrel-ends, the size of the pen, the filling mechanism and the clip length. I'm not too knowledgable on all of that beyond a few points. But there are some very smart 51 experts here who should be able to tell you. But we need more photos to really date the pen.

[Kaptenmork]

Ok, thanks. I take more photos soon. Anyway, both are fantastic pen, I put some ink in them just to try them out. I had a hard time to explain to mrs Mork why I need a pen from post-WWII :ltcapd:

[Shangas]

Hey. You're not so bad off. Imagine the people who have to explain to their missues why they need a pen from pre-WWI.

[topaz]

I have 2 contenders in my collection. My Waterman Ideal eyedropper pen is a "12" (so it is a cone cap pen with a #2 nib). The nib is a "New York" nib and has a clip with the date Sept. 26-05. The barrel end is not rounded so based on some research, I'm guessing it was made between 1910-1920. The pen has a wave pattern that is barely visible now from wear and the pen has a rusty appearance in spots. The imprint is very faint but I can almost make out "PAT (something) 1884" and "May 23 1899" (I think- my eyes are crossing trying to read it). At the bottom of the imprint is a faint "Aug 4. 1903".

 

My BCHR clipless Conklin Crescent Fill pen would have been made between Dec. 1903 and 1920. It has a 2NL on the end of the barrel and a screw cap so it would be a later model- 1914-1920.

 

It sure wasn't easy trying to find dates. I'd include a picture but it is getting dark out and all I have is my pitiful iPhone camera.

Edited May 28, 2012 by topaz

[gregamckinney]

I have a handful of early Waterman BHR/BCHR pens that are all from 1900, +/- a year or two.

 

Regards, greg

[Niagara Falls]

My oldest "self-filling" pen is a gray marbeled Pelikan 100 from about 1937.

My oldest pen is a dip pen, made of silver and ebony and is datet from around 1900.

[Uncle Red]

Boston 32 ED pen made before the company was bought by Wahl in 1917

[mdbrown]

I'm pretty sure this is the oldest pen I own. It's a Sheaffer lifetime ringtop, best guess is late teens-early 20s. Patent dates on barrel range from Aug 8, 1908 to Dec 14, 1914.