Hi, I have come across several nice fountain pens in a box of stuff that has been in storage for years, since the late 80s. Three Waterman, two Mont Blanc, a Cross, and a Parker. They are all very nice quality pens, were stored dry and clean, and are in good to excellent condition (one Waterman nib has signs of corrosion and the Parker and Cross are sterling silver and have tarnished some). I would like to get an idea of what models these are and their value, as I wish to sell them. They all have 14K or 18K fine point nibs, and either piston-type or bladder-type fill mechanisms. I also have some boxes of ink cartridges (Cross, Mont Blanc, Waterman). All pens date from the mid- to late 80s. May I post photos on this site and ask for help with idenfying them? Thanks for you help.

Hi,

Welcome to the site, part of the fun is putting names to pens, so feel free to post your photos, I am sure you will get some answers quite quickly.

Values are a bit more difficult as much depends on condtion rarity etc, but I am sure people will give an idea, otherwise once you know what they are you can search ebay for an idea of prices.

Andy

feel free and people will do what they can-however it would be a shame to get rid of them, pens like that should be used...

Thanks for the encouragement. I plan to keep one, possibly two of the pens--they are all beautiful but I simply can't use so many, and rather than have them lay dormant in storage I'd like to give some fine-pen aficionado the chance to use them.

I must say, having only just "dipped in" to the world of fine writing instruments, I can see that folks are very passionate about their pens!

Might you, or someone, direct me to the proper thread to post inquiries about pens?

Thanks, Andy. I apprecaite the encouragement.

Hello, and welcome to FPN!

We can certainly help with identification... but once you figure out writing with them, you'll probably find that each writes with its own personality, and presents itself differently when in your pocket... and that you can put different inks into each one for variety... which is why most of us here have more than just a few pens...

Hi, emdee - yes, post your photos of each pen under the right pen heading for the best answers. Post your Parker photo in the Brand Focus section in the Parker thread, the Waterman photos in the Waterman thread, etc. There are lots of very knowedgeable and helpful folks on this site who would be happy to help you identify your pens. And as andyk says, values are harder to determine, but the experts in each section can usually give you a range.

I've just learned that I am to get my late grandfather's old fountain pen from my 84-yr old uncle. I'm adding that to my 60+ collection of pens, and I'd be hardpressed to decide which ones to get rid of at this point if I wanted to downsize. As was mentioned, each has its own personality, especially with different inks. If you haven't played with each pen yet, you might want to try them out. In fact, the only reason I got hooked on fountain pens is because I found a handful at an antique store and handled about 10 of them (based on size and style). If I'd only found ONE pen, I'd probably still only have one pen. But feeling firsthand how different each pen was, I got 5 of them! And then I was hooked after coming to this website to learn more about pen filling and mtc. I've now added a few modern pens, but the vintage ones are truly wonderful when they work well.

Good luck. And enjoy the pens while you have them!

Welcome to FPN. Be warned, if you keep a couple of pens for yourself you will more than likely learn to love using them and you'll want more later on.