Antique Shops

[logantrky]

I was just curious to see how many FPN members find FPs in antique shops. I started this topic because I was just reading a post in the Montblanc forum where someone found a MB 149 at an antique shop! Have you ever found anything at one??

[Biber]

For the most part I don't really get excited with fountain pens I find in antique shops beyond simply looking at them. Perhaps if I were into doing my own re-sacing or other repairs I'd have more of an interest. However should I stumble on something of obvious value for a good price, I would consider it if only to sell. I must admit that within the last yaer I did buy two Esterbrooks (a J and an SJ) because the price was right and they were ready to ink. And, as a fountain pen user I felt obligated to have an Esty in my collectiion at some point. Boy did that start trouble...

 

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't address the op's question. - It seems that I don't see too many FPs in antique shops, usually a couple of broken or corroded ones here or there. Only once did I see a sizeable collection of FPs that the seller thought were high end.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Biber

[penmanila]

some of my best finds and best bargains have been made at antique stores in the US and all over the world, since i first began collecting pens more than 20 years ago. they've included a parker mandarin senior duofold for $68 (in milwaukee), a wahl-eversharp doric for $28 (in ann arbor), and a montblanc 146 for about $50 and a swan eternal 48 for about $15 (in the philippines). fairly recently i found a dove-gray parker 51 in excellent shape in an antique mall in san francisco for $10, and, on the pricier but rarer side of things, a waterman patrician in onyx in ocean beach, CA, for over $300.

 

you need to look very hard because the pens could be tucked away in corners or into cups and cigar boxes. it never hurts to ask the shop owner "do you have any pens?" that's yielded me quite a few that i never would have seen, although i enjoy, much more, the quiet hunt.

[Roger W.]

There are finds to be had. Some antiques people are old school and don't put things up on EBay. I found a Sheaffer sterling scroll filigree for $200 (in the day they elected not to pay the little extra for a clip so it is a legit clipless model still a $600 pen easy). A Parker Lapis desk pen for $16. If you are into desk bases many of those can still be had at antique shops. You'd have to go back before EBay to find loads of pens but, they are still to be had. I'm going today to an antique mall that a friend of mine says he saw several Sheaffer desk bases. Today though, you've got to expect possibly no fountain pens or very overpriced third tiered makers as the norm.

 

Roger W.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Roger W.

[tricnomistal]

I tried, but didn't get very far... We have two antique shops in my college town. One is relatively small, but the other is decently sized. I didn't find pens of any kind in either of them though...

[torstar]

It's a hassle if the seller isn't knowledgeable, and no, you aren't getting a Julius II for $5...

[lapis]

I haven't so far. Easiest way out... most of the turds in those stores don't even know what I'm looking for. I.e. what a FP actually is.

 

Jeeze

Okay, I give. If they by chance did have a 149 or a 52, then I'll take that back

[penmanila]

i often bring a pen in my pocket to show them what i'm looking for. also, i hand out my card, so shop owners can call me the next time they find something interesting. it pays to set up relationships with people. i got a PFM V and a jade green senior duofold this way.

[jjdeal]

Although they are few and far between, I have gotten some FPs at antique shops. Several Esterbrooks, a Targa, to name a few. You do have to scour the places...I always look first at locked cases, as that is where they are normally stored...

[Muncle]

I always tuck my head into them, and occasionally ask if they have any. It seems a lot of antique shops have a deal with other collectors or sellers, that buy pens en masse whenever the store receives them. Two I got in a store require a lot of work (Waterman V1/2 with wrong nib, cracked section, and no sac, and a Taperite that needs to be re-sacced). The only other times I've seen pens are ones that need repairs, like the blue Vacuumatic missing a nib, feed, and blind cap. By the time I sourced the supplies, I could probably just buy the pen restored for the same price.

 

Often, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. My parents gave me a Parker Challenger ( ) with a bent nib (). To make up for it, the shop owner threw in a couple of Esterbrook nibs so that I could replace the bent tines. I know that sometimes stores vastly overcharge for any pen, thinking that they all have to be valuable and expensive. OTOH, a lot of people on the board have testified to sumgai deals.

 

So, I guess it boils down to looking at all the stores, all the time. Eventually you'll stumble across a great deal, and you'll snatch it up. If you don't keep looking, though, you'll never find a pen in an antique store. That's why it's called "Pen hunting": you don't always come back with something.

[tmcneil82]

I've been relatively lucky, but no sumgai deals yet. It takes lots of patience, and lots of looking. And you have to expect to get a fixer upper as the pens rarely ever work right away. One thing that helps is to bring cash, as many places do give discounts.

[rwilsonedn]

The key is patience. I've found some very nice (not really valuable, but nice) pens by regularly visiting an antique shop that virtually never has fountain pens. On the other hand, there are a few shops with dealers who always have poorly-restored, over-priced fountain pens. I pretty much ignore them.

And there is the occasional sumgai. I haven't encountered one, but a friend of mine, when he first became interested in fountain pens, wandered into a shop at a wide spot in the road out in the country and found a Parker 51 Empire State for $5. (I know this first-hand because I helped him identify the pen.)

Of course pretty much anything you find is going to need some work.

ron

[Flake]

I never find anything nice but I did find my current favorite pen in one. Warwick stub nib. Writes like a dream!

 

 

I have a few other very cheap lever fillers I've gotten as I'm trying to learn basic restoration like resacing. If I kill a 5$ pen ill feel bad but if I kill a 100$+ pen, i'd be VERY upset.

[watch_art]

There's one spot in a flea market here that I go to occasionally.

 

I found a solid 14k gold Edward Todd ring top very flexy nib $20.

A Wahl redwood pattern ebonite ring top for $15.

Very recently a mint Sheaffer snorkel in burgundy. Worked perfectly. $1.

Gave that one to a teacher I work with. It was one of the later ones with the steel nib.

[Ernst Bitterman]

There's a lot of chaff; one finds scores Wearevers with tines pointing in different directions with huge price tags on them, because "Fountain pens are RARE! No one makes them now! Collectors pay $100,000 for fountain pens!" Infrequently, though, you find (for example) an unblemished Vacumatic in perfect working order for $25, or a Waterman 100 Year with a crumbled tail and NOTHING ELSE wrong for $8. It's worth looking in now and again.

[Uncle Red]

I've gotten lucky at antique shops and shows but I've looked through lots of shops, just keep looking.

[Florida Blue]

I've bought most of my vintage FPs at antique shops and flea markets.

 

I often sell these pens on eBay if I don't want them for my collection.

 

Antique shops are some of the most fun places to walk around and even if you don't find any pens you will get to see some really neat objects most of the time!

 

My best find was a Watermans Baby safety pen with a sterling silver filagree overlay. I paid $60 for it (which I know doesn't sound like a sumgai deal) and I cleaned it up and sold it on the Bay for $230. Money for more pens!

 

Warning: most antique dealers don't know squat about fountain pens so you need to do the homework yourself before making the plunge.

[Scriptorium Pens]

I had beginner's luck last month. Went into an antique shop just because the friends I was with wanted to check it out. On a whim, I asked the owner if she had any old fountain pens. She had just gotten in a pen that she didn't know anything about. It was a 1937 Parker Vacumatic Golden Pearl desk pen, with a Duofold base. The pen looked good, but the base was awful. Brian Anderson restored the pen and did a nice job on the base. I almost passed on the pen, but my friends made me go back and get it. I'll be visiting more shops, for sure!

[AmateurAficionado]

I've spotted some FPs in one antique shop locally. I knew (and still know) very little of vintage pens, but the prices seemed ok. I'll head back there after reading a LOT and am armed with a camera and maybe some printouts from here or Richard Binder's site to help ID what I find.

 

One shop I called, the clerk said they had a bunch of pens that he wanted to try and sell as a single lot. If I find the time to go there, I'll see what he has and if it's worth picking up.

[jbb]

I've gotten a few decent deals at antique shops but mostly they're overpriced compared to Ebay. I've done better at flea markets and yard sales.