Flea Market Goody! Golden Ringtop

[watch_art]

Got this at the flea market today. Went in looking for Arkansas wetstones (about fifty cents a piece) and saw this in the glass display case.

Marked $35. SOLD. We got to talking. I told her how I came to her store looking for arkansas stones. She knows the guys who sent me, so she gave me the pen for $25!!!!

 

Haven't inked it up yet. But that's coming soon.

And I don't know if the box is for this pen, but it's marked Ejekto or something. Pat. Pending.

 

Barrel says 14K. It posts. It was posted when I picked it up. Stuck on there tight. Yikes. Doubt I'll be doing that at all. No name in the cartouche. But looks like somebody tried to scratch something in there. EDD?

 

Nib marked Edward Todd and Co.

N.Y.

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is on top of a gift card for size reference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2011 by watch_art

[Mauricio]

Nice vintage eyedropper find. Looks like you will have a wonderful flexy nib there. Thanks for sharing your nice catch.

[alvarez57]

Sumgai?

 

Very nice indeed! Have you written with it?

[watch_art]

Just inked it up! Didn't even need to clean it. Whoever had it last had cleaned it quite thoroughly.

 

And the little scratches in the cartouche says 25⁰⁰. Darn. But you really need loupes to see it. Very faint.

 

Beautiful little pen.

 

[redisburning]

lol that pen probably cost a good month's salary, if you were well off.

[watch_art]

I wonder what it's worth now.

 

I also wanna know how the edges of the nib imprint wore away. Did somebody just sit there and play with the nib while waiting on something? Seems odd.

Edited March 6, 2011 by watch_art

[alvarez57]

Very nice little pen. I have a Wahl that also is a very flexible pen. Is yours scratchy?

[georges zaslavsky]

excellent find my friend

[pen2paper]

Treasure!

[watch_art]

it's a TINY bit scratchy when I flex it, but I think that's due to the little pitting in the one tine. The tippins is worn nearly to the gold, too, so this thing has seen some real use.

[Shangas]

Now you either need a necklace or a watch-chain

 

What a truly magnificent pen!!

[Ernst Bitterman]

The imprint likely wasn't fully struck on making, rather than having worn down over the years... although a pen predating the appearance of Mabie is not at all young.

[watch_art]

Okay, that does make more sense. Because it's uniformly worn on both sides of the nib. So Edward Todd came first? I should do a bit of research. This is definitely my oldest pen. And eyedropper! That makes it even better!!

 

edit:

and after a little reading, decided this is one I think I'll keep. Regardless of worth, it's one I won't come across again, at a price I'd be willing to pay. Considering myself lucky on finding this one.

 

cheers!

Edited March 6, 2011 by watch_art

[Nuclear_Duchess]

Nice find! Beautifully flexy too!

[corniche]

Hello Shawn,

 

See how life balances out; you're arm doesn't hurt as bad now, does it?

 

Congratulations,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

Aka, the friendly curmudgeon

[Roger W.]

The pen is an Edward Todd as the nib indicates. Also with the barrel being marked 14K this is a solid 14K pen! I'd say it is worth closer to $150. Edward Todd was made around the same time as Mabie Todd's - their relationship is fuzzy. Edward Todd died in 1900 and his son took over the business. Lever fillers would have been made after 1915 with your eyedropper predating these but, not by much. Not a mass producer of pens but very high quality.

 

Roger W.

 

http://www.sheafferflattops.com/images/EdwardTodds.jpg

Edward Todds

Edited March 6, 2011 by Roger W.

[watch_art]

SWEET! Thanks for the info. This is one I'll be holding onto. Think I should go ahead and get it retipped? The one tine has a fat pit in it, and I can just imagine it popping off while writing. And if I keep it, I will use it... even if only rarely. But it's so neat!

[arrow king]

If the body is marked 14K and given the current gold price the $150 is closer to scrap value. I would think a reasonable price for gold fill or rolled gold but not what is refered to as solid gold. Times are changing.

[Roger W.]

If the body is marked 14K and given the current gold price the $150 is closer to scrap value. I would think a reasonable price for gold fill or rolled gold but not what is refered to as solid gold. Times are changing.

 

Rolled gold might get pushed by the price of gold but that would be a $60-80 pen not $150. $150+ ringtops have to be Sheaffer slotted filigrees or scroll filigrees in gold fill or they have to be 14K solid. This is a small pen and would have to weigh 6 grams to get to your $150 scrap (and there is a certain amount of weight in hard rubber) that's a lot of weight for a ringtop. Rarity does enter into it but that is tempered by desirability. Take a 14K Sheaffer ringtop with a 2 nib. That's a decent sized pen and very rare. Scrap will have you at least at $150. With how rarely these are encountered $900 wouldn't be a bad price but, it's a ringtop and doesn't have the same draw. Typically I've paid in the $300 range. I think scrap on the Edward Todd would be closer to $80 and the collectibility is at $150 or maybe a little higher. Not a lot of people out there looking for little solid gold Edward Todd's but, they are real sweet pens. I have a 14K Edward Todd 2 size with matching pencil and pocket knife in velvet box - all pieces monogramed including the box (sorry, don't have better pic handy).

 

Roger W.

 

http://sheafferflattops.com/images/ringtops11.jpg

Towards left in the middle is the Todd set

[alvarez57]

Very nice collection there, Roger!