Wow...this One Went Wild On Ebay

[Carl Fisher - F3 Pens]

So I was bidding on the copper dollar pen with a 9128. With less than a half hour to go, I was top bidder at like $18.50. Just checked back in and it ended up selling for $102 (not me obviously)

 

So my question is was it the nib that drove that up or is there something particularly special about the copper dollar pen?

Edited October 23, 2014 by Carl Fisher

[gweimer1]

I have yet to find rhyme or reason behind some of the prices on eBay. One day, a pretty typical Estie J with a 2xxx nib will go above $40, the next they barely hit $15. I just got a Dollar Pen 3550 for $24, and it seemed that nobody was watching or interested. I picked up another early Tran J with the ridged cap jewel for $10.

 

From what I see, it boils down to the nib and the color of the pen. In your case, I think it was the combination of the two.

[risingsun]

I was going to put in a last minute bid on that, but WHOA! What just happened?!? :-)

[Veltri]

That 9128 nib had a teardrop shape for a breather hole which may have pushed this up. Nice pattern too, but $100 surprised the heck out of me. I was 10 minutes late to bid and was relieved it was multiples over my intended bid so I didn't have to sulk for missing out on a deal.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Veltri

[pajaro]

The item:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-ESTERBROOK-COPPER-PEARL-FOUNTAIN-PEN-9128-STAINLESS-NIB-/191378666534?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c8f0eb426&nma=true&si=dZnNnyXlVF7nknnAKU34OaHg05Y%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557#ht_2368wt_900

 

Somebody really wanted this pen. Look at the bids. Three bids all over 102.50.

[Carl Fisher - F3 Pens]

Yep, that was the one.

 

I thought I was fairly safe with a $30 bid but I couldn't believe when I looked at the final price. Would love to have that nib though.

[inkstainedruth]

Yep, that was the one.

 

I thought I was fairly safe with a $30 bid but I couldn't believe when I looked at the final price. Would love to have that nib though.

A year and a half ago, that's roughly what I paid for a green SJ with a 9128 nib -- including the shipping charges. I know that prices have been creeping up since then... but YOWZA!! That's nosebleed seats territory. As in, I saw a Plum 51 with a gold filled cap go for that sort of money....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[estie1948]

I have yet to find rhyme or reason behind some of the prices on eBay. One day, a pretty typical Estie J with a 2xxx nib will go above $40, the next they barely hit $15. I just got a Dollar Pen 3550 for $24, and it seemed that nobody was watching or interested. I picked up another early Tran J with the ridged cap jewel for $10.

 

From what I see, it boils down to the nib and the color of the pen. In your case, I think it was the combination of the two.

I agree completely. I've seen some sales that have to be described as crazy. (Wish I had seen that Dollar Pen with the 3550 nib!) I love Esterbrook pens but when an unrestored black J with a 1551 nib is described as having lots of scratches, teeth marks, and a broken clip sells for $65 plus $12 shipping and handling - that is just crazy!

 

-David.

Edited October 23, 2014 by estie1948

[Beechwood]

I had an SJ of mine sell for GBP80 (USD120) last year, it was new but nothing special. I was amazed when I got paid, I thought he would squelch.

[Brian K]

Hmm...I have the same pen in green with a 9128 and I am certain that the cost of the pen and the one the 9128 came in orignally combined was not half of that. That being said the 9128 is a very nice nib. I need to try a wetter ink in it because the feed has a hard time keeping up with the nib when using it as a flex nib sometimes. If you don't flex it it's a very dependable very fine nib. Mine has a round breather hole rather than the tear drop one, btw. I don' have a lot of Esterbrook nibs but I really like this one, the 9788 medium flex and the 9168. I have a red, a blue and a brown (not really sure if it's a copper or a root beer) trio of Js I need to have fixed that I'd like to move these nibs to.

[bfg]

I've seen the ebonite dollar pens go for that and, maybe, the bandless ones but this is really crazy. If these prices hold up it might be time to thin the herd.

[Sasha Royale]

Not everyone finds $102 to be significant money. Not everyone is hunting bargains.

Who knows what a given collector finds valuable ? Many times, I have been disappointed,

but seldom surprised.

 

(Did I mention that fountain pen people are crazy?)

[OcalaFlGuy]

It also has a flat feed, frosted 9128. Some C-Worders groove on the Frostiness.

 

That could well be the nib that pen originally came with.

 

I would say the Major xtra amount was due to 2 people Really Wanting the pen. Wonderful if you're the seller, not so much

if you're one of the two bidders.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[jdllizard]

I had a snipe bid set up to $41 and thought I was golden with that amount. Boy was I shocked when I saw the final selling price.

[pajaro]

Some of you have a good chuckle when you pick something off that has gone unnoticed. So a collector has picked off something he wanted with three overpowering bids designed to deliver to him what he wanted, an uncommon nib, frosted yet, and in an old pen. For all anyone knows he might have been recovering something that was sentimental to him for reasons best known to himself.

 

When I was actively collecting certain postage stamps, I happened to see one in an auction that had been released in very small quantity, but the catalog price was low because of low demand. I bid three times the catalog price and won the auction at about two and a half times catalog value. This stamp completed a set for me. It's worth more now, thirty-five years later.

[OcalaFlGuy]

I have a few Esties. (35ish)

 

IMO, the majority are serious lookers, that's why I got them in the first place.

 

I will say this about this particular pen.

 

The Copper Dollar pen is usually particularly striking. At first, the Copper and Especially the Root Beer (Man I musta been trippin') Did Not appeal to me, now I have more Copper than any other color and 3 Root Beers, 1 still banded.

 

IMO, it's quite eye catching and just SCREAMS! Estiebrook, and did I mention that Frosty nib.

 

I've never paid $100 for an Estfie, but were I at a pen show, and saw that one, I might well be tempted.[EDIT] I would expect that to be

a $65-70 pen at a pen show.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl-yep, got it, minus the Snow nib.

Edited October 23, 2014 by OcalaFlGuy

[NobleDel]

Does anyone know how often frosted nibs come up for sale?

Edited October 23, 2014 by NobleDel

[TXKat]

...or better yet.....exactly what IS a frosted nib...I have a 9128 in it's original box..need to look at what's on my pen..What's the difference between a regular 9128 and a frosted?? Sorry...my newbie is showing...

[OcalaFlGuy]

It wasn't terribly easy to see in those pics, but the center horizontal panel of the nib face that has the 9128 on it is

a matte finish to the steel vs the shiny parts above and below that panel.

 

Hence, Frosted.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[gweimer1]

If you look closely at the nib (and I've never heard of a frosted nib before...yeah, I'm new, too), you will see that the center is a frosty finish, while the rest of the nib is a nice, shiny silver.

 

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDc4WDYzOA==/z/bHQAAOSwY45UQW17/$_12.JPG?rt=nc