What Is This Old Fountain Pen Worth?

[schnorg]

I’ve found an old fountain pen. This was my great-grandfather’s. I’d appreciate any help identifying it and determining if it has any value or not. We’re cleaning stuff out – none of our kids will want this kind of stuff.

 

It is missing the clip. It has a patent date of August 6, 1901 on it, which by my searching makes it a product of the Eagle Pencil Company. In looking online, I can’t find this exact pen.

 

Pictures are not great. I tried to pull it apart gently to see the interior ink reservoir, but couldn’t budge anything. Just in case it’s worth something, I didn’t want to tug too hard.

 

The nib looks somewhat damaged in the pictures, but I think that’s just because it’s not a very fine point. Visually, it looks to be undamaged. It says it’s 14K gold.

 

Any advice or referrals you can make would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Picture helps...one here is better, in I don't go chase or download items into my computer from the net.

The little green screen is where to load your picture.

[Tweel]

A battered Epenco won't have much monetary value.

 

This was my great-grandfather’s.

 

We’re cleaning stuff out – none of our kids will want this kind of stuff.

 

Therein lies the possibility of value, and its denial.

[Honeybadgers]

show us a few pictures. Don't expect a ton but it may be worth a few bucks.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Early pens often did not have a built in clip....one bought a clip of one's choice for pens about 1900.

 

One had one's wife sew one of them new fangled shirt pockets on the shirt also...so one could store one's fountain pen.

Or bought a shirt with a pocket and cuffs and a collar if one had a peddle as you read washing machine.

[schnorg]

Sorry, I thought I had attached pictures. Here they are. I don't see the 'little green screen' that Bo Bo Olson referred to.Doc2.pdf

[praxim]

It may be that people are unwilling to download a random file from an unidentified source on the internet. I am.

[carlos.q]

This pen is priceless. After all it was your great grandfather's pen. Maybe your kids will not want it know but they will surely appreciate it dearly when they are older.

[Honeybadgers]

upload the photo to the uploads section of this website - nobody wants to click on a random .pdf.

[The_Beginner]

i did a screenshot of it

Edited February 18, 2019 by The_Beginner

[The_Beginner]

cause people are worried about the pdf

[Honeybadgers]

doesn't look damaged - like bo bo said, that pen was probably sold with a clip separately, if at all.

 

Is the nib flexible at all? If so, I might be interested in buying it if you decide you don't want to keep it in the family.

Edited February 18, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Parker51]

If you want others help, at least take some more pictures, from different angles and at different distances, in better light.

Imagine you are selling a used car of unknown vintage, mileage, condition, or even if it has an engine in it, but all you do is post a picture in the manner you did. It could be worth scrap value or enough that someone might ship it across the country, but no one would ever know from your picture and description.

[schnorg]

OK, everyone, apologies for using pdf. This blog only allows 1.95MB, and I didn't know how to reduce the size of a jpg. Now, I've figured that out, and attached are several pictures resized to 0.25MB. I'm not asking anyone to do my research for me; I've gone as far as I could with the patent # telling me who the manufacturer is and spending lots of time looking for this item online. All I'm asking is if someone recognizes this pen and if it's worth anything.

 

Answering one question, the nib is not flexible.

 

Thanks

[peterg]

I would date the pen by its style to 1900 - 20. Pens of that period were generally eye droppers (also I can't see any filling mechanism in your photos) , in which case it should unscrew rather than pull apart.

The nib is good. Dip it in ink and it should write.

Value wise I don't know but probably not as much as a small keepsake of a family member, if that is his name on the barrel.

[Roger W.]

As you know Eagle Pencil Company had a fountain pen patent date that matches your pen. I wouldn't put these much later than 1910. As a dropper filler (they were not called eye dropper fillers - that's just something we seem to do today) it will twist just above the section but, it is probably frozen with dried ink. In between the nib and the outer threads is the section that will turn and it will separate right where the threads meet the section. It's not worth a lot but, people do love flexy nibs today so that will help it's value as it is likely flexy. $50-100.

 

Roger W.

[BaronWulfraed]

OK, everyone, apologies for using pdf. This blog only allows 1.95MB, and I didn't know how to reduce the size of a jpg. Now, I've

 

Since you had a site on which to upload the PDF, you could probably have uploaded the raw images to it, and provided their URLs to the [image] button.

[tuesmepr]

Lovely pen, and looks well-preserved too. Having a flexible nib would be a bonus, but a rigid or semi-flex nib would by no means detract from the pen's value.