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What's Your Most Recent Mb Purchase?


Blade Runner

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I use the following model:

Dividing the price of L139 from the price of ink = 41.3/0.35 = 118 times.

Nowadays a pot of ink is like 25 USD (at least in Australia) then the pen is USD 2950. I'd say not too far off.

 

Yep - sounds reasonable. It was a major purchase back then for sure, as it is now.

 

Just did the CPI calculator and it is difficult to get a $ to M rate for 1943 (something big was going on...) but it was 2.5 M to $1 rate for 1940 and then using the calculator it works out at $16.52 which would in 2010 be $254. Ten times less than your calc...ah well.

Interesting that in Nov 1923 in Germany a loaf of bread cost 200,000,000,000 marks. 1943 was much more stable and no hyperinflation around but things were economically less well than they had been a few years previously. I digress...and veer off topic...

 

Nice pen BTW - well snagged :thumbup:

Edited by Makar

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

 

John Muir

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I just tried to work out 41.65 DM from 1943 to todays money...

They would have been Reichsmarks in 1943, which was pegged at RM2.50 to $1.00 until the US entry into the war. Certainly the RM2.50 figure cannot be extrapolated another two years into wartime, during which there was no (official) exchange between those currencies. The valuation was RM10.00 to $1.00 from 1945 until currency reform and creation of the Deutschmark. See the handy-dandy University of California-Santa Barbara's webpage. Even before inflation adjustment, it would seem virtually impossible to reach anything that approaches a reliable US dollar calculation based on 1943 Reichmarks. Or was the RM10.00 valuation reliable two years earlier? Speculation.

 

Fred

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Thanks Fred and Kai

 

I am aware of taking this thread off topic. Just interested to know the relative expense of the top end MB of the time. Interesting stuff.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

 

John Muir

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I got a long ink window 136 with a receipt from 1941 which came from the same store and shows the same handwriting as Kai's :cloud9:

 

Also I picked up a Meisterstueck 25 Safety with snake clip, a 246 and finally a copy of Roesler's MB book and a nice modern LE with some issues I will report about later.

 

Great show today and I will try to post pictures later.

 

Cheers from Hamburg

 

Michael

 

Here are the promised pictures:

 

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/PENSnINKS/Montblanc/P1040724.jpg


  • 1939-1943 Montblanc Meisterstück 136 (originally purchased on Oct. 21st 1941)
  • 1948-1950 Montblanc 246 G with a lovely flex BB nib
  • 1925-1928 Montblanc Meisterstück 25 Safety with original snake clip

 

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/PENSnINKS/Montblanc/P1040727.jpg

 

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/PENSnINKS/Montblanc/P1040730.jpg

Comparison of the Meisterstück 25 Safety with two non-Meisterstück #2 and #4 Safety pens

 

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/PENSnINKS/Montblanc/P1040731.jpg

Comparison of the Meisterstück 25 Safety with the recent 1992 Agatha Christie WE

 

 

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/PENSnINKS/P1040706.jpg?t=

Closeup of the Meisterstück 136 with original proof of purchase dated Oct. 21st 1941.



It is very interesting to see that the pen was purchased in the same store two years earlier than the 139 Kai shows above.

Looking at the handwriting I'd even say it was sold by the same person!

 

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/PENSnINKS/Receipt.jpg?t=

 

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/PENSnINKS/Receipt2.jpg?t=

 

 

Cheers

 

Michael

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Two kilograms of butter...that was the price of a standard Montblanc in the postwar black market in Germany...hard times.

I think on this sometimes as I write with my MBs and get really nervous.

 

 

 

I just tried to work out 41.65 DM from 1943 to todays money (best using the CPI - consumer price indicator) and felt queezy. I don't like maths, particularly on an empty stomach. Anybody else want to try and work out how much this pen was relatively worth to the buyer in 1943 (maybe a difficult period to forecast from though...)?

 

Here is the best link I can find to these kinds of calculators: US-German currency conversion tables

 

These currency converters work really well for estimating current relative costs of old projects - can be useful and fun. Just this swapping currency stuff etc. is not working for me today...

 

thanks

Stephen

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Wow guys, these pens and the corresponding receipts are just stunningly beautiful! So rare to have this stuff together...cherish it!

 

I myself sponsored our friends at Montblanc again today by buying a Meisterstuck 162 (LeGrand) platinum line rollerball at my trusted dealer here in the Netherlands. Stunning pen to look at (as expected from the Meisterstucken), and writes like a dream! :cloud9:

 

Also scored a new Rhodia Webnotebook to go with it, as I was in need of a new journal...I like this paper a lot better than the Moleskines I used before...happy that my dealer has Rhodia in stock now! :thumbup:

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Lovely pics and info Kai and Michael.

You gents certainly did very well in Hamburg.

 

I would love another 136, in that condition would be a dream. :cloud9:

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Love and work... work and love, that's all there is.

Sigmund Freud

 

(there was a man who obviously never knew fountain pens!)

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This is my contribution to help get the US economy back on track.post-38363-0-45605100-1318131013.jpg

This is just the Montblanc stuff.post-38363-0-24857400-1318130748.jpgpost-38363-0-75726500-1318131094.jpgpost-38363-0-16095600-1318131169.jpgpost-38363-0-29215800-1318130830.jpg

 

Fahrney's manager Emile was extremely helpful. My wife got to try out all the pens she wanted and at one point I think that he had 5-6 Montblancs out for her and was changing refills for her until she had exactly what she wanted. The Le Grande Diamond is hers as well as most of the other pens in the big picture. The Shaw and Collodi set are mine. I also picked up my first Pelikan, an M1005 demonstrator. As soon as I tried it out the flexy nib had me sold. I highly recommend that if you are in the DC area to visit this store.

"Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision." - Ayn Rand

 

I may be getting older, but I REFUSE to GROW UP!

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Made a purchase on Friday.... another big fat pen with a ruby glow under light and a number ending in 9...

 

This one, which is my third of that model, has a lovely buttery smooth BB nib, with more than a hint of stub about it. :cloud9:

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@Kai and Michael R. - Having seeing those receipt to go along with those vintage pens just makes them a whole lot more special and interesting, as those receipt are physical history behind those pens. That is something that money can't make up for and I'm sure there's a great sense of pride that comes along with the ownership of them. Thank you for sharing :thumbup:

 

 

@PBW - Congratulations on your acquisition, that's a lot of MB! I feel confident with the economy already :) WE Shaw is one of my favorite, with its spectacular nib, solidly built barrel, ink window and the smoothest piston I've ever experience with a MB.

 

 

@Rasendyll - Nothing like a new big old fat, amber glowing, ending with 9, snow capped, large nib flagship model FP! I'm considering another one as well, but can't make up my mind on what nib to get (currently with F and B nib size)....

 

edit for typo

Edited by Sidestreaker

My link

 

Life is like Chinatown signage, its cluttering, confusing but everything that you need is there, just have to look harder....

 

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv272/sidestreaker/lifestyle/logo.jpg

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Sidestreaker- by coincidence those are exactly the nibs on my two previous 149's. The Broad is fairly recent and the fine is a early 90's example I think, with different plating on the nib.

 

Subsequent edit... was just looking at the fine 149 and spotted (which I had seen before but forgotten) 'W Germany' engraved in the clip ring, so must be 89 or earlier...

 

...

@Rasendyll - Nothing like a new big old fat, amber glowing, ending with 9, snow capped, large nib flagship model FP! I'm considering another one as well, but can't make up my mind on what nib to get (currently with F and B nib size)....

Edited by Rasendyll
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A Montblanc 22 with BB nib its on the way...

Happy, happy, happy! :roflmho:

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i literally just picked this pen up about 30 minutes ago at bromfield pen. i originally wanted the barley but i loved the champagne geometric design.

 

 

post-74665-0-08709700-1318269290.jpg

Edited by mr.haha

MB Geometric Dimension LeGrand FP, MB WE Collodi FP, MB Sterling Silver LeGrand FP

Cartier de Pasha Platinum FP, Cartier de Pasha Composite FP

Omas Arte Italiana Wood FP

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Picked up the following inks tonight.

 

Collodi

Ghandi

I Love You

Seasons Greetings (2 different colors, red and brown, at least it looks brown to me)

Ink of Love

 

I was surprised that they had any of these other than the Collodi in stock. Lucky day for me.

"Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision." - Ayn Rand

 

I may be getting older, but I REFUSE to GROW UP!

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A 1st generation resin 149 with a 14C OB

post-43099-0-18556200-1318336786.png

post-43099-0-94177500-1318336803.png

"It ain't so much what people don't know that hurts as what they know that ain't so."

-Artemus Ward

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Wonderful to see some reallly nice new additions. 'love the WE haul, the Geometric Dimensions (one of my favorite current regular production designs!) and the early resin 149 with the rounded gold ring.

 

Enjoy the in good health

 

Michael

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This would be my most recent, the 14 K solid gold early (1950) 144 set that I acquired a couple of weeks ago.

 

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/rickp/744.jpg

 

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/rickp/7442.jpg

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I have a question about this barrel. Is this a true demonstrator, or simply a pen from which the paint has been worn or removed?

 

Another is my 136 with a demo barrel that I finally picked up.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6088/6211312860_7c515970d6_b.jpg

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A 1st generation resin 149 with a 14C OB

 

Looks beautiful! How does it write? Line variation, springy nib?

 

I have a 1955 MB 146 with 14C OB nib and might like to add something comparable in 149-size, or writer's edition.

Edited by pmhudepo

journaling / tinkering with pens / sailing / photography / software development

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