‘PF’ stamps - meaning uncovered?

[Mercian]

Tl;dr ‘Executive Summary’:

The ‘PF’ stamp on Pelikan nibs is a mark that was required by French Customs/Assay regulations, to indicate that the company responsible for importing the 18k gold nibs to France was Pelikan.

 

 

Full post:

I have, dear reader, been taking part in a discussion on the Parker board about the origin of the (14k) gold nibs on modern Parker Duofold pens.
 

We were debating the meaning of the ‘Eagle-head’ marking on nibs for sale in France, and I looked-up the French law concerning Customs/Assay hallmarks, which can be found at https://www.douane.gouv.fr/fiche/regles-de-marque-pour-la-garantie-des-metaux-precieux.

 

Having read the definition on that site, it turns out that French law (like British law) requires items made of precious metal to be assayed, and to then be stamped with TWO marks:

if an 18k gold item passes the assay, it gets the ‘Eagle-head’ stamp;

The second mark that is required by French law is a ‘mark of responsibility’ (equivalent to the ‘Sponsor’s mark’ in the British assay system).

 

But:
the French system is more-subtle than the British system, and it indicates more information than the British system does, as follows:

If the item is made in France, the ‘responsibility mark’ that indicates the manufacturer must be enclosed within a losange - a diamond/straight-sided polygon.

 

If the item is imported to France, the ‘responsibility mark’ that indicates the importer is to enclosed within an oval.

 

So, the ‘PF’ stamp that appears on Pelikan nibs that are stamped with a French ‘Eagle-head’ mark are - as they enclosed within an oval - another French Customs/Assay stamp; one that is a ‘responsibility mark’ for Pelikan.
Perhaps the letters indicate ‘Pelikan Fabrik’?

 

Anyway, support for this explanation can be seen on the following two photographs.
Firstly, a photo of the ‘PF’ stamp on the 18k nib of my ‘W.-Germany’ M800:

 

As it is stamped inside an oval, it is a French mark to indicate the identity of the importer.

 

 

Secondly, a photo of the mark for ‘Parker Pens’ on the 14k nib on my Parker 75 that was made in Méru, France, in 1984 Q1:

 

As you can see, the ‘PP’ (separated by an upward-pointing arrow) for ‘Parker Pens’ is enclosed within a straight-sided losange, so it is a French mark that identifies the French manufacturer.

 

I hope that this solves the ‘mystery’ of these stamps.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[carlos.q]

Here is another explanation for the stamps on Pelikan nibs: https://thepelikansperch.com/2014/09/22/the-pf-pn-nibs-explained/

[Bo Bo Olson]

My small W.Germany 600 (400 size), W.Germany 800, my Hunter Toledo 915, and 805 all are 18k and so hallmarked.

The Swiss required a gold mark (gold being like France 18k or more) , more than the stamped 750/18K, so the PF; worked both places.

A company hallmark.

However...............

I just looked at my @ 1990 149, Noblese, Diplomat Japan made Burl, C'dA(Swiss made), Waterman Mann200 (French made). They have no hallmark marks. All these pens were 18K, in the original owner seemed to have insisted on 18K.

Diplomat, then comes the two Pelikans...and as mentioned.