Identifying A Vintage Mb149 Nib

[ShakenNotStirred]

Hi guys,

 

I'm thinking of buying this pen, but the seller doesn't know what nib he has. It looks like an older 14c MB149 nib, but its a bit slanted it seems. Is this an oblique nib? If so, can you speculate which size it could be?

 

Thanks!

 

[gyasko]

I'd say that's an OB.

[ShakenNotStirred]

  On 4/7/2019 at 3:24 PM, gyasko said:

I'd say that's an OB.

 

Thanks! How much are these normally worth?

[Honeybadgers]

you might get $200 for it. 14c's aren't super flexible.

Edited April 7, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Bo Bo Olson]

Looks OB to me, and one has to see the feed to date it. (How ever it is wider than my Vintage KOB and narrower than my modern Fat B=BB.

 

A Passed Repairman, Max RIP, might still have info up carried still by Penboard.de to date the feed......look in pinned section of MB.

When Max was still alive I bought a large 146, 1970-80 14 K nib.....was regular flex, and was able to date the feed to '70-80.

 

My '50-60's medium large 146, with a maxi-semi-flex was a 14 C nib.

My '51-55 rolled gold 742 has a 14 C nib that lays half way between a semi-flex and a maxi-semi-flex. The only pen of my 28 semi-flex and 16 maxi-semi-flex that is so....the rest are closer together....maxi having more variation than semi-flex.

I also have a 234 1/2 Deluxe KOB (52-54 only) with a C nib. It is semi-flex.

 

So C nibs can vary.... but I only have three vintage, one semi-vintage....and a modern Woolf.

Vintage MB is affordable on German Ebay, or was. Do stay away from the Buy Now Idiot button.

 

 

 

and somewhere else I have a nail...320 EEF, with just 585 on the nib....it is a semi-hooded nib. so if there is a C or a K to be seen it is hidden.

 

My modern Woolf is a 18 K nib, springy...in good tine bend but only 2 x tine spread.

 

I was somewhat disappointed at the time I bought that Large 146 in a live auction....I'd not tested it, hadn't even wanted it...but there was no one there to bid and I got it for E150. It was only regular flex.

When the medium-large 146 came up in a live auction, I had tested the nib and knew it was a maxi....

 

A problem with many MB's is there is no nib width on some to man/most of the models like my 146's....742 would require engraving in the rolled gold (It is stamped 742 but no nib width....it I'd guess is a F...the Large 146 is between an F&M....could well be a vintage M...........so many MB nibs are just what width one guesses. My 234 1/2 had KOB stamped on the piston knob.

And it also has to do with from what era a nib is from.

My 50's KOB is very narrow for a B............the B nib I have on my Woolf is very fat for a B....a BB, and modern nibs are much fatter than semi-vintage and vintage.

[Honeybadgers]

the 80's 14c and 14k are not very soft at all. my 14k is basically a nail.

[zaddick]

Its definitely an oblique. It is either OB or OBB depending on the line it puts down. It looks between the two sizes to me. This tri-tone 14C nib was only made until about 1975 as the latest. It could be earlier but without a pen more denials on the pen is on it is harder to date.

 

Tri-tone 14C can be springy, but not necessarily. The older it is the more likely it has spring to it, but no gaurantee.

[zaddick]

  On 4/7/2019 at 8:33 PM, Honeybadgers said:

the 80's 14c and 14k are not very soft at all. my 14k is basically a nail.

The two-tone 14C nibs were used from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s. Some of the earlier ones were soft. I agree 14K marked nibs are much stiffer.

[Bo Bo Olson]

My Large 146 is '70-80's and regular flex............and am glad it wasn't an 80's pen.

C and K is not quite clear in my mind....even if I did mention it in an old post.

Gold was marked ......

CT = English/British empire.....have heard Italy sometime used CT.

K= European or German

C= US.

 

How ever I always give way to OMASsimo, I've learned very much from him.

""""Thanks for the picture. Yes, "CT", especially in the way imprinted on this nib, strongly suggests a British nib.

 

The gold hallmarks were typically like Bo Bo Olsen says.

 

CT indicates British

CTS French (they also needed an extra hallmark and were 18 CTs/750 due to regulations)

KT or Ki early Italian

C typically US

 

German hallmarks were not standardized and changed with time. Up to the 1930s usually imprinted as "Karat", "Kar.", "Kt", "K", or "C". From the late 1940s on wards usually as "K" or "C".""""

 

And that was about all I could find on hallmarked nibs in 20+ minutes of Googling and all was on our com.

 

Just think how Pelikan nibs changed from being mostly semi-flex before and during the '50-65 era.

Regular flex in the '82-97 era.

Modern is semi-nail for the 400/600, nail for the 800 and the 1000 is regular flex made by Pelikan and semi-flex if made by Bock.

No I'm Not going to go looking through my slew of Pelikans to find out which are C and which are K......that won't matter in it's the era that matters....not the hall mark.

[BlueJ]

I agree with the others that this is an OB nib, though as Zaddick says, slightly wider than average.

 

Honeybagers's value estimate seems reasonable for a loose nib or nib unit; for a complete MB149 with this nib in good condition, I would say $400-450 would be about right.