I went to a farmer market and found it was actualy a flea market.A guy sold me a mint Parker 180 GP for 20$.I didnt even argue on the price I just payd him the 20$ and snached the pen (and he thought he got a good deal).

Hi Goodguy,

How about P180, gold plate striated finish with ball pen, in box, uninked from a car boot sale £2.50 or a bit less than $5.00?

That was only last year, the best this year so far was £5.00 for a slip cap Onoto push piston filler with a No.8 nib the size of a small shovel and it writes superbly.

That was from the same guy who sold me 2 Pelikan M200's, a Victory, a Senator wit 14ct nib and Parker17 Duofold and a Cross Townsend in green striped enamel for just £25.00 the lot and even the Victory worked.

I don't know which was the best deal but the Onoto is the one I treasure most.

Cheers John

At a silent auction fund raiser: Never used Montblanc Kafka set (pencil, ballpoint, fountain) boxed, with papers, but box was opened. Fountain pen never inked. $325. I will never be able to complain about my luck.

Doug

Bought an old Waterman Patrician at an antique show for $25. Original flexible huge nib. I still have it.

Hi Oxonian

I knew my deal will not be close to the story I am expecting to hear (like your luck) but thats my best deal

You guys really don't want me to discuss this do you????

My first was a 9kt 1949 Parker 51 Presidential Pen and pencil set for £100.
It has been engraved but apart from that it's in excellent condition.
My last was an Omas 361c for £20 at a car boot.
How I enjoyed the smug look on his face.
There are several more but those are the most satisfying.

Vintage Conway Stewart 60L in blue herringbone, mint/unused with price band still on the barrel - $135, including shipping from Australia to US.

Oh, go ahead Tom,

But first I have to tell you about my dumb luck. 2 years ago when I was in upper Minn., I stopped at a antique shop with my brother and asked if they had any Parker pens. The gal that owned the shop goes upstairs and returns with about 5 Parkers. All were 51's, so asked how much and she said $25 for them all. I did not know much about 51's at the time, but turns out 1 of the was a !944 DJ with a wedding band cap. Sold that pen for $250 at the Alanta show.
Just goes to show you that if you buy them cheap enough, you dodn't have to know what your doing.

Parkercrazy

My best deals were
unused Lamy 2000 for $30 on eBay
working 1945 Vacumatic for $7
Early Duofold Big Red Sr. pencil for $7
Maruzen Albion for free in a box of junk pens.

The last one stressed me out since I'm a user rather than a collector so I worried if I was storing it safely, etc. So I'm not sure if that was a great deal.

Ben

To OldGriz

Yes Tom I asked this question especialy with you in mind so PLEASE do tell P L E A S E !!!

Duofold International at 60% mark down from original price at a DEPARTMENT STORE

Go on you know you can't resist

But before you do let me get this in:

Griz I want you to know that I hate you

And you owe me a new monitor for my computer

Now go ahead and do your worst I am a man who can take it :ph34r:

Jim :bunny1: :bunny1: :bunny1: :bunny1:

OK you asked for this.... I will not be held responsible for choking, coffee ruined monitors and temper tantrums...
Probably the best deal I have gotten was a batch of pens off eBay for $100. After selling off a couple of the pieces for $120.00 I still have a Sheaffer Triumph TM Gold Filled TD pen/pencil set and a Sheaffer Triumph Crest Set left.
The Parker 51 Vac Demonstator cost me less than $40 after I sold the other pens that were in the batch I bought it with.
The Parker 51 Signet was bought for $100 and when I mentioned to the seller that there was an engraving he did not mention, he refunded me half the selling price.
I won't even go into 51s bought for $10-15 or Snorkels bought for even less. I mean after all I do have some compassion for my fellow members.

Excellent OldGriz thats what I wanted to hear

The best was a Duofold Sr. for $1.50 at a garage sale. I paid exactly what they asked, and paid the same for an Esterbrook at the same sale. the Duofold is a daily user, filled and in the case with me today.

But then the yellow Esterbrook purse pen, with yellow buttons, mint and stickered for $5 wasn't bad either.

nor was the Burgundy Streamlined Duofold Sr. for $40

Or the Sterling capped 51 for $10......

I look at a lot of junk in my travels, but do find the occasional good one!

Wow, were you pointing a pistol at him at the time? My best deal was a new Parker 100 from Pam Braun for $98.00.

Best deal? Probably a gold-filled Wahl All-Metal ringtop FP with original flexy Wahl nib for a dime ($0.10) at a thrift store. No dings or damage to it. It just needed resacking.

My mom called me and said she bought a big Montblanc fountain pen at an antique store. Neither she nor the store owner could figure out how to fill it and assumed it was broken. So the owner knocked $10. off, Mom paid $65. She sent it to me (149) I sent it to MB for a checkup for $100. Nice writer XF nib smooth as butter.

I paid US $12 for a 51 with case at a sealed bid auction in the back of an antique store. I was the only bid.

An ebay seller sold me two M200's for $40, and the second turned out to be a mid 80's brown tortoiseshell, which I suspected based on the photos, but would have been happy either way. So you could say I paid $40 for an M200 and got the M400 free, but I usually say I paid $20 for each.

I paid nothing for a Parker '51' that belonged to my granddad. Found it in a box. It's condition is quite good, nary a scratch on it, and it writes very well. But beyond that, it's just priceless to me. I will never sell this pen. I don't know if that counts as a "best deal".

hi Bill D,

We are not allowed to do things like that, all I did was to give him what he asked for, very quickly I must admit as the gloating grin was struggling to get out and it never pays to look too pleased or else the price goes up next time.

cheers, John

A Esterbrook Dipless 444 with white glass base & clear taper, 9000 series stub nib, all seals perfect including the inner red fill ring, and filling instructions & box for $11 off of ebay.

k

The two that pop into my mind are first, the near-mint Waterman 42 in BCHR, with two 9K barrel bands. Bought on eBay for $50, later sold for $200.

And the capless Waterman 12 I bought for $40 at a local antique store. Sold that a few weeks later to a Waterman collector at the SF pen show for $650 and a near-mint Waterman 12.

The Periwinkle Snorkel for $30 doesn't quite touch those highs, but I still love that color!

best, Dan

Not a pen but a pencil.Tiffany 14k magic pencil,late 18 to early 1900's,complete with original box.Got it for £15 on ebay(+£2.50 p+p).Got to be my best deal yet

OMG!!! That's one of my favorite pens! I hope you love it as much as I do. (Mine cost $34.90 more than that.)

I got a Waterman Hundred Year pen at a flea market for $5.00 and it didn't need any work done on it.

Thanks, jbb! I do love my Wahl All-Metal pens (and pencils); I have 11 fountain pens (ringtops and non-ringtops) and 2 pencils in 8 different machined patterns

Your Waterman 100 Year pen was a super deal. Congratulations!!!

This is a good place to enthuse about finds . Yesterday while I was pondering a parker 45 in the box, with all the contents including cartridge box my wife asked someone on hte next stall at an antique market if he had any pens. He found 6. I bought 4 for £30 - a sterling capped PArker 51 with blue diamond and vacumatic made in Canada, a rolled gold capped 51 in burgundy made in England, a wahl eversharp skyline - small and black and a a canadian vacumatic black with what looks like some sort of candy stripe in the barrel.
The two I didn't but were a small black conway stewart and a broken rubber waterman ideal 1920s?

Its great when your collection takes a leap forward for very little money.
Best wishes
Simon

Last week on ebay I got myself a Mentmore Deploma (1920s?) pen in great condition for $4, The seller had it listed as "founting pen" and in the discription it just said Mentmore Deploma and he had the wrong photo, the photo was of another pen he had up for auction. And to top it all off he would only post within australia, so I had no competition.

I have never had any luck finding anything at flea markets or yardsales.

I was talking to one guy at a big thrift store, and he told me if the pen dosnt work (even if it just dosnt have any ink) they throw them out. Now thats crazy.

The most recent was an un-inked Aurora Hastil Fountain Pen and Ballpoint Set in original box for the princely sum of £7.50... about $14.00.

But I can also remember paying £5.00 for a near mint CS 85 in Green Herringbone - I was a happy chap that day

The best deal...P51 vac for $5. Did a bit of a rinse, filled it with Skrip and it wrote. Was the second pen FP in my collection and is a go-to pen in my quiver...Also a P51 Signet aero for $30 at an antique mall on Cape Code. Also a go-to pen.

Worst deal? A $600 MB sterling silver 1xx I got free in a deal on St. Maartins in one of those reputable chain Caribbean jewelry stores. Peg was into emeralds that year. She choses the bling, I get to negotiate. They had nothing I wanted (I usually try for a $400 watch...what the hell) so the only thing I could think of was that stupid MB I had seen. Got them to throw it in gratis as a deal closer.

Bill

Same here. After $35 in restoration costs, and a bit of wheeling and dealing to get the correct cap for it (gold-filled), it's a daily go-to.

I'm happy with that one.

I got a great deal on a brand new Parker 100 once, too. $60 out the door. If it hadn't been such a heavy pen, I'd still have it.

I haven't gotten any steals on any really good pens, though I've gotten a bunch of really nice-writing Sheaffer cartridge school pens for pennies, and love collecting the different colors. Just not much monetary value.

I have a Waterman Ideal that I paid $25 for. The nib has "Waterman Ideal New York 2" on it and on the end of the barrel is 0852 1/2 V. Posted it's 140 mm (5.5 inches) long and there is a gold band on the cap 12 mm (0.5 inches) wide. The band is engraved with initials and has a floral design all around it. I paid an additional $30 to have it restored mainly becuase somebody thought it would be a good idea to dip it in some type of paint and write with it. I feel this was a good deal. In general, I've done pretty good with Esterbrook's of late.

Okay, I can top the cheapest P51 deal.

I picked up a P51 Aero in Midnight Blue, Lustraloy cap, F nib, 3Q1949, for two dollars! It's in EX-NM condition. I wonder what it's really worth...

Although, I think the cigar box full of pens for $25 may be the best deal I ever got. It included a Waterman OS Emblem pen (#18 nib). Unfortunately, it didn't have a cap. I don't remember what else was in the box, but it was about 20 pens total.

Both of these were at the local Palmer-Wirfs antique shows.

TTFN,
Grem

May not have been as good as the ones I've read in the post, but this was a good deal for me, the red Montegrappa for 200$ flat.

I've had a couple. The first was a bag of pens and pencils at an antique show, which included a Snorkle and a parker 45, of which I'm using both.

There were a couple of the old Scripto pens in there, that I have yet to find cartridges that fit, but look in working order.

There was an antique solid metal mechanical pencil that I have yet to identify.

Finally, a floaty ballpoint.

All for $10.

Oh yes, there were a couple mint Scheaffer school pens that were in working order, which I sold for $10......

Got a mint burgandy P61 capilary at the Miami pen show for $22.

Other than that, recently I picked up a P51 aero with a gold cap and a Super 21 both for $23.

-Bruce

Well done, Bruce! Those are all some very nice deals!

I've had some decent luck during the last few years, mostly at estate auctions, some at antique shops. Without digging out the pen cases, here are a few that come to mind:
OS Wahl Signature RHR Greek key chased - $6.00
Waterman 52 ripple rhr - $6.00
Parker GF 61 set - $10.00
Parker Duofold Sr. Burgundy Streamlined - $12.00
Waterman 452 (missing clip); Sklyline in grey; Parker Lucky curve BCHR rt (perfect exc. missing nib),Parker vac DJ Lockdown filler green (missing btm. jewel), Eversharp 5th Ave, Skyline pencil, Parker 21, Remington Combo - all for $5.00
Sheaffer Jade Balance, the long thin version w/near perfect color and a stub nib - $12.00
Sr. Endura lapis - $35.00
Parker Striped Duofold Vac, Sheaffer jade flat top, Estie bandless dollar pencil, Diamond Medal w/8 nib - $40.00
Wahl green & bronze two band desk pen - $6.00
Waterman 12 SF w/gold band - $6.00
Wahl gf metal deco w/#5 nib - $16.00
A bunch of Estie's and Sheaffer TD's, Snorks, and Skylines for a few bucks apiece.

I have made some good buys on e-bay, but my best buys have come at estate auctions. The "good" auctions are infrequent and you look at a lot of junk in the process, but it's a lot of fun to score a great pen for a few bucks. Fortunately, in my part of the world the average auction goer has no interest in old fp's.