I Need Help Identifying This Conklin

[ThegreatandpowerfullR]

My friend got this pen from a flea market seller some time ago and gave it to me. He said he paid 100 dollars for it and it is a very nice pen in superb condition( wear is almost non existent and the color really is amazing in-person). The dimensions are 5 inches capped, 4.6 from nib to end, 3.9 from section to end, and the barrel is 3.4 inches long. The lever is a half an inch long and says "PAT.NOV.17.1925" and the clip says "Conklin PAT 5-38-1916" the imprint says "TRADEConklinMARK" and underneath "Toledo, Ohio, USA. The nib says Conklin 2 toledo and goes from a really wet fine/medium to a 3mm flexed point. Attached are some pictures of it and the pen n comparison to a pilot varsity and a fpr guru and triveni. Thanks a lot in advance for the help!

[Happy Harry]

An early low end Conklin ( the clip setting confirms this) oft described as simply a sub Endura Symetrik model. While looking very similar the high end Endura Symetrik this is a shorter, slimmer pen with a smaller nib. Your friends pen is a very good example and certainly worth the price. This model is often seen with damage around where the lever pivots as the plastic where the lever pin sits is fairly thin so do exercise a degree of caution when filling to avoid excess pressure on the weak point

[ThegreatandpowerfullR]

An early low end Conklin ( the clip setting confirms this) oft described as simply a sub Endura Symetrik model. While looking very similar the high end Endura Symetrik this is a shorter, slimmer pen with a smaller nib. Your friends pen is a very good example and certainly worth the price. This model is often seen with damage around where the lever pivots as the plastic where the lever pin sits is fairly thin so do exercise a degree of caution when filling to avoid excess pressure on the weak point

I told him and he says he wants to sell it because he rarely uses it, what do you think he should sell it for? Also do you think it is full flex or wet noodle? It snaps back very quickly and flexes much much better than my FPR flex pens even after grinding the sides off.

[ThegreatandpowerfullR]

Here is a writing sample- That is pushing it pretty far but not dangerously far.

[Dave Glass]

Conklin generally referred to pens like this as the "350" model, reflecting the price in the mid-30s. You sometime find similar pens that are imprinted Endura with little to differentiate them from the value-brand 350.

Your example is fitted with a #2 nib from the crescent-filler era. You can immediately recognize the extra flex of the nib by the long slant from shoulder to tip. The firm nibs of the mid 20s and later (designed to be more capable with carbon paper) were much shorter from shoulder to tip. It is an incorrect nib for your pen, but probably one deliberately chosen for flex writing. $100 is a pretty good buy for someone who wants a wet noodle writer mounted in a reliable, nice looking, lever-filling pen.

[Happy Harry]

The '30-'31 catalog still has crescent fillers listed, as well as the $2.75 range carrying the no. 2 nib. Certainly the $3.50 price point was used for a long time and the '33 catalog shows this line ( not color though) with and without the low clip setting ( $6.60 set , $3.85 pen) . I agree with Dave the nib isn't standard.