Looking For Help Identifying A Fake Pelikan.

[shalitha33]

Plating loss on the nib is entirely my fault. accidentally wiped the nib by hand after working with carsol . I am fairly sure this one is a fake. There is nothing wrong with the build quality. pen feels solid and writes with a fine line. cap band has the line "Pelikan Germany" written. Pen is black . Once I unscrew the dome on the top of the cap it shows the pelikan logo with 2 chicks. There are no plating loss on the cap band or the clip.All engravings looks sharp and properly done.

 

 

Is there any test i can do to see if its real or not?

[Paul80]

What makes you think it's fake, dose the piston work?

[Lam1]

The pen looks very legit to me.

 

Why do you think it is fake?

[shalitha33]

I got this off a shop with several other pens (parker duofolds etc). Other pens were properly priced. This was sold around $18 -$19. Shop also mentioned they are not able to tell if its legit or not. I cant see anything wrong with it, but surely no one would sell a real pelikan for such a low price.

 

 

Piston does work smoothly. pen fills fine and does write as expected.

Edited June 18, 2019 by shalitha33

[jcoersen]

It looks like an early Pelikan, i would happely pay $19,- for it and ad it to my Pelikan collection.

[Bo Bo Olson]

M&K????

100? How long is the pen????

 

I have a 100, that the guy in the 'junk' shop insisted on wiping the nib clean with a paper towel, even though I told him not too a couple of times ..............the plating was gone .....If it hadn't been for E-20, I'd left it. But from another pen where the gold wash plating a Reform 1745 vanished, knew the steel nib would write just as good with out the gold wash, or the Pelikan's gold plating.

 

I do have a gold plated 120, that still has all it's gold plating.

 

 

....well, should you get another plated nib, the lesson is dab, not rub.

 

If you absolutely have to have gold plated, Cult Pens in England offers a real bargain in gold plated 200's nibs....should also have gold plated nibs for a 100.

[mana]

Not a fake. Enjoy the pen, you got it for a great price.

[sargetalon]

Definitely not a fake. That is a Black Pelikan M481 from 1983. All correct from the photos that you show, including the cap band engraving and the logo under the derby cap top. This was the precursor to the M200. Great pens.

 

You can read more about this model here, here, and here;

 

https://wp.me/p4XMw3-bB

 

https://wp.me/p4XMw3-Sg

 

https://wp.me/P4XMw3-3z

[shalitha33]

Capped pen is around 12.6-12.7 cm long, Uncapped to the tip of the nib is around 12-12.1 cm. I'm using an old ruler to measure so numbers may be slightly off . Nib unit removed its 10 cm long. Nib unit has a silver-colored plastic ring.

 

 

Only other pelikan-made pen I own is an IBIS from pre-war years? So i actually don't have anything modern to compare against. Bent look on the inside of the clip is mostly light casting a shadow. gold plated ring on the cap is straight (not angled). Both pens have the same thickness when holding.

 

 

Once I rotate the piston to the end gap it makes is slightly longer than the ibis. but not my much. Ibis is a much shorter piston and also from a very different time so i guess its not something i can compare as such.

 

 

Sorry i don't know anything about pelikan pens .

 

 

[shalitha33]

Definitely not a fake. That is a Black Pelikan M481 from 1983. All correct from the photos that you show, including the cap band engraving and the logo under the derby cap top. This was the precursor to the M200. Great pens.

 

You can read more about this model here, here, and here;

 

https://wp.me/p4XMw3-bB

 

https://wp.me/p4XMw3-Sg

 

https://wp.me/P4XMw3-3z

 

 

Thank you for the links and thank you for all the help . Sorry i didn't notice your post before posting.

[shalitha33]

Thank you everyone for all the help

[sargetalon]

Enjoy your pen. Its a nice find.

[PAKMAN]

Nice find at a great price! As noted it is the real deal, enjoy!

[inkstainedruth]

Sounds as if you might just qualify for "Sumgai of the Week".

Best I ever did on a Pelikan was five bucks US for a 1980s era Pelikano. Nib is a nail, but really smooth. And means I can finally use the pack of Edelstein Amethyst cartridges from the first Pelikan Hub I went to.... I think I paid as much or more for a converter for it (I didn't really have any other pens that take International Standard cartridges).
Next best, also from the 1980s, was what I think is an M100 off of eBay. For roughly *twice* what you paid....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bo Bo Olson]

That's a pen I didn't know....

I was surprised to learn both the Ibis and the 100n were made up to 1954.

 

I was somewhat a snob fool, and finally got my Ibis only because it was part of a live auction lot. It's a very good pen, not pretty but mine had a gold maxi-semi-flex nib, so that makes up for any lack of beauty.

 

Outside of Osmia (O-F-C) where the small diamond with often a size number in it is semi-flex and the big diamond with Supra or only Supra are the maxi-semi-flex. Maxi is pure luck of the draw. I have three Pelikans,(Ibis, 500, 400NN) a MB medium-large 50-60's 146, a Geha 790 and a few no name maxis. I have 16 maxis total, & 29 semi-flex.

[DrCodfish]

Think about it: who would counterfeit a generally low value pen? If someone is going to go to the trouble to produce a 'fake' Pelikan it ought to be a very expensive model not a first or second tier pen. There is a reason counterfeiters donlt produce one dollar bills.

[Lam1]

Think about it: who would counterfeit a generally low value pen? If someone is going to go to the trouble to produce a 'fake' Pelikan it ought to be a very expensive model not a first or second tier pen. There is a reason counterfeiters donlt produce one dollar bills.

 

I don't know about that.

EBay seems to be full of fake Lamy Safaris and even, believe it or not, fake Heros (or Jinhao, not sure which Chinese pen). Both of these cost a lot less than most Pelikans.

Also, one of the pens with the largest number of fakes is the Parker Sonnet, not exactly a high cost pen.

 

It is, actually, surprising that we don't see fake Pelikans. Perhaps they don't sell as much...

[BaronWulfraed]

Think about it: who would counterfeit a generally low value pen? If someone is going to go to the trouble to produce a 'fake' Pelikan it ought to be a very expensive model not a first or second tier pen. There is a reason counterfeiters donlt produce one dollar bills.

 

I refer you to Old Mr. 880... https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mister-880/

 

Not only did he counterfeit $1 bills -- but he mis-spelled "Washington" on them ("Wahsington")

[shalitha33]

counter-fitting lower price models happens a lot. it is much easier to pass them out as real. If something is very expensive chances are we are going to be more careful when buying it. price difference between selling a fake of an expensive pen (as fake), and selling a fake of a cheaper pen (as real) would probably come to around the same amount.

 

Also lot less effort to duplicate the craftsmanship. A quick search may show lamy safari's for around < 2$ (not the Jinhao). You can also order it in any color and can specify what brand you want them as.

 

To be honest i am not against making copies as long as they are clearly marked as "copies". If people starts making vintage copy parts for pre 1910 weidlich, wirt, a.a waterman pens etc we will be able to keep these vintage pens running without needing to baby them. It is one thing i like about vintage "onoto" pens. Because some one has gone through the trouble of making all washers, rods, plunger heads, shafts etc i don't have to worry about braking them when using them. if i snap a rod i know i can get a new one.

 

I know being careless is not an excuse but sometime things do happen and id rather snap a part thats replaceable than one thats not (recently broke a wirt feed shame on me )

[Bo Bo Olson]

Counterfeit is that. The patent for the Safari has run out (37 years after 1988?) and Hero makes a copy. ...that don't say Safari.

But to get a new 'Safari' so labeled cheap is a fake, a counterfeit. In a Safari costs @ E-12 on Amazon, Lamy suggests E-18.

To be quite blunt if you knowingly buy counterfeit, you are a thief.

May you buy a $100 cartridge MB 149.