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Pens On Antique Roadshow


Charles Skinner

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I have never seen a fountain pen on Antiques Roadshow. Have you? If you were going to appear of the show, which of YOUR pens would you take? Which pen NOT in your collection ------ but from a friend who would loan it to you ---- would you take? In other words, name a really, really "knock out" great, great pen ---- that you would you take to Antiques Roadshow if you could?

 

C. S. (electric immigrant because I do not understand the language!)

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It seems that the people who bring their trinkets to the Roadshow for the most part don't know much about them, and are hoping the experts can enlighten them.

 

Also, most old pens aren't exceptionally valuable.

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Haven't watched the show in a number of years, so I couldn't say.

OTOH, for a few years the CBS affiliate here in the Pittsburgh area had their own version, called "Pittsburgh's Hidden Treasures." No "in the studio" discussions, but (theoretically) I was one of the "man on the street interviews" showing off a couple of the pens I'd brought -- I missed an episode because their scheduling was so erratic). Showed the reporter and camera crew a 1926 Parker Duofold/Lucky Curve ring top I'd picked up a couple of months before, and the Parker 41 I'd snagged at an estate sale the day before, for a whole whopping 50¢ B); about 3 weeks later my husband fielded a phone call from someone from the station (I had to call back the next morning) to say what the appraisal value of the pens had been, so they could do a crawl along the bottom of the screen with the amount, I guess); I kinda had to ballpark the figures a bit, because the Duofold hadn't gotten a separate appraisal -- it was just lumped in with all the OTHER pens I'd brought as an overall value (which was more than I'd paid, including repairs, for the pens I'd brought). Dunno if there's any way to track down the episodes, to find the episode I might have been on. And they have since cancelled the series. Honestly, I thought during the actual appraisal that the "big deal" would have been that Lucky Curve, due its age -- but nope. The appraiser's assistant came back, pulled out a tablet, and wanted to see that 41 to check recent sales figures.... I was kind of staggered by the quoted appraisal (although I took the upper bracket value with a very large grain of salt because it wasn't one of the rarer colors, wasn't NOS, didn't have the original box, and wasn't part of a set). OTOH, when I showed it to Richard Binder at a pen show, he said "Wow -- that pen is really CLEAN!" :lol:

Oh, and if you're ever at something where this woman called "Doctor Lori" is doing her "Comedy Appraisal Show? Steer clear. :angry: She told me that the Sheaffer Snorkel with the Palladium Silver stub (and, as it turned out, semi-flex) nib was from around 1910.... :headsmack: So I'm betting her appraised value was way off the mark as well (if I *had* decided to sell the pen last summer at the Triangle Pen Show, there were FOUR guys who would happily have gotten into a bidding war over it -- including the guy who had done the repairs on it... ;)). And I kept having to say "Yes, the nib is awesome -- that's why I bought it. No, it is NOT for sale...." But if I HAD sold the pen I would have shoved the resulting *actual* up her nose.... Possibly a dime at a time....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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Fountain pens occasionally appear on Dickinson's Real Deal and on Four Rooms, both antiques programmes (sort of) here in Britain.

 

They NEVER take the tops off to show the nibs, and they never have any idea about fountain pens or their value.

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I saw some kind of Parker in AR once, not valued highly, and I thought they were likely way off the mark. I don't know much about those old turn of the twentieth century Parkers, because really old pens don't interest me. Once I went through a big bowl of old, old fountain pens an aunt had. Over a hundred pens. Couldn't make any work. I think that's why I lost interest in pre-1940s pens.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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I have never seen a fountain pen on Antiques Roadshow. Have you? If you were going to appear of the show, which of YOUR pens would you take? Which pen NOT in your collection ------ but from a friend who would loan it to you ---- would you take?

 

Question #1 ......Yes...Amelia Earhart Pens.......

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/18/boise-id/appraisals/1932-amelia-earhart-pen-pencil--201304A43/

 

and 19th and 20th Century Inkwells and If I Remember Correctly his wife also brought fountain pens{do not recall which pens}

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/11/mobile-al/appraisals/19th-c-inkwell-collection--200603A09/

 

Perhaps more examples.....I'm tired................

 

Fred

 

Redacting: I would Not take any..nor would I appear on the show..............

Edited by Freddy
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  • 1 year later...

I would probably take something obvious, like a solid 14kt basketweave overlay Waterman 552 1/2v, and something subtle, like a Skyline in Executive size, with the WAHL labelled clip and nib. I would likely toss in a French Market Montblanc with a factory 18k nib, and see if they notice the difference. I suspect there is far more knowledge in this forum, than is present in an antiques roadshow "expert".

Edited by Addertooth
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The first link you provided is the same I put up in post number 6....

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/18/boise-id/appraisals/1932-amelia-earhart-pen-pencil--201304A43/

if you had gone there...and clicked Watch.....

Your second link is for a book review.....All good....Thanks..

Fred

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There was a Dunhill Namiki desk pen a few years ago, without a base. The valuer made the point that had it been a pocket pen then it would have been £2000+.

 

There is another antiques show where experts travel the country calling at antiques shops, buying items including furniture and quirky stuff and then trying to sell at auction for a profit. They often buy pens and make a good profit, it is quite competetive between the two experts. One made the point that if we regularly make a good return on pens why do we bother risking a loss and buying anything else.

 

Here is a sample of the program

 

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The problem with the antique road show is not limited to fountain pens. The problem is some of the appraisers not only have very limited knowledge that makes them focus on their specialty, they have agendas. Many years ago my family meet to one of their events and participated. Their expert while recognizing what we brought, a piece of Roseville experimental art pottery which we even had a good story to go with it had little interest in it as it was not from the maker what he personally likes. He minimized it's value estimate and provided no more information than could be found in a common art pottery reference book. This despite the fact he has made quite a bit of money selling Roseville pottery over the years and is quite knowledgeable about it. In watching the show over the years I have seen a simialer pattern with other "experts".

I suspect if the antique road show had a pen expert they would likely get an expert who while quite knowledgeable would virtually ignore what they don't collect, not note even obvious aspects of a pen and throw out an almost random price until they see what they want and then they would go into great detail ask many questions etc. if the pen matched the brand and model they like.

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There was also an issue I heard about with Antiques Road Show about appraisers inflating prices to make it look good for TV. I didn't go when they did a show in Pittsburgh a number of years ago, but a good friend of mine did. She brought some old documents and said the appraiser made only a cursory glance at them and then said "Two hundred bucks... Next...." (She was a little annoyed about that....)

At least for the Pittsburgh Hidden Treasures appraisals, the two times I went, the appraisers actually looked my stuff over (well, the toy specialist did, and told me about the company that made the music box I inherited -- the china person told me to go to Replacements Limited to see if I could match my great aunt's Limoges china pattern (which I've never actually seen anything remotely like for sure on, since it's not Haviland; I learned more in an antiques store in a place where I lived in Massachusetts, because the woman there had a book on china markings -- so I now know the timeframe of when Ahrenfeldt made that pattern, even when I don't know what it's called). The second time, when I brought the pens, the appraiser I talked to admitted to being a "generalist", and that I probably knew as much or more about the pens than he did -- it was his *assistant* that got all excited about the Parker 41....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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  • 2 months later...

Oh, ARS videos might be a fun way to learn more about vintage pens!

And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves:
"It's pretty, but is it Art?"

-Rudyard Kipling

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Actually, not a way to learn about vintage pens, but rather a way to learn about vintage appraiser/presenters.

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Most good antiques people have a speciality, or two or three. Outside it, they know a bit. So I know one guy in Norwich who is an absolute expert on early transferware; I enjoy transferware, and buy a piece occasionally, but he really knows chapter and verse on all the manufacturers. He probably doesn't know much about pens, pocket watches or 17th century furniture...

 

But actually, we should rejoice when antiques dealers in the 'regular' trade, and junk shops, and flea market stallholders, don't know much about pens. They *might* try to sell us a third tier piece of rubbish plastic with a scratchy steel nib for £70 "because it's really old", but equally they might sell a Waterman red ripple pink nib and Parker duofold mechanical pencil at the same price as the rest of the pens in an old ice cream box, "£2 for anything out of there, love". That's where the sumgai comes in!

Too many pens, too little time!

http://fountainpenlove.blogspot.fr/

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AMK,

I can't help but agree. All of my good finds (great restorable pen at an insanely low price), have been from sellers who were unaware, or misinformed on what they were selling. In some cases, the difference between selling price, and resale value was hundreds of dollars. It is great having a hobby which pays for itself.

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I'm a big Antiques Roadshow fan, but for pens? Not so much, especially when I saw an old celluloid one, a flat top that I recognized (but can't remember now) described as ''bakelite''. :rolleyes:

 

Edited for spelling.

Edited by pen lady
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