Cross Green Striated: Rare Edition?

[nostalgiacforever]

Request the help of fraternity.

 

I am new to pens and was trying to help an elderly gentleman dispose of his pen collection of about 200. He told me that one of his pen is a Cross Green Striated which he claims to be only a few in existence. I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA. He says it was originally produced in 40s and there are only 2 in existence. Well, every collector thinks he has the holy grail of his collection. Its for this forum to decide on the rarity.

 

Am attaching some photos of this Cross which he sent today.

 

May I request this forum to tell me

 

1. If it is rare Cross?

2. Are only few pieces in existence?

3. Tentative insurance value, if it is permitted?

4. There seems to be JULY18;33 written on body along with Made in New York. What does this signify?

 

Thanks

Edited September 18, 2015 by nostalgiacforever

[vikrmbedi]

just my opinion.it does not look like a cross pen to me...

 

more like a franken pen with nib from cross metropolis and clip from cross century attached to a vintage pen.

 

 

the trims don't match... gold plated steel nib with chrome clip. also difficult to imagine a scenario where the clip would get so tarnished and the clip platting won't corrode.

 

just my opinon

[nostalgiacforever]

Thanks for your views.

 

I ofcourse donot know about pens. But I do know people.

 

Owner is now 87 and collection is of his father to which he has further added. Now has 200 pens, whose list he has painstakingly made out to sell.

 

He has been holding onto this pen for most part of his life and has got this information from his father that only few such pens are existence. Ofcourse mere belief is not be the proof.

 

But the pen is like this since 1940s. So an old Frankestein? Doubt it very much. He doesnt come across as such. And knows his stuff. Thats why he has written about the other pens. He says its third edition. No reason why he says so, but keeps insisting.

 

But again, I know nothing about pens and would submit myself to superior wisdom on this specialised forum.

 

Let us wait to see what others have to say.

 

Thanks

Edited September 18, 2015 by nostalgiacforever

[basterma]

Was Cross making fountain pens then? The font for the brand name on the clip is modern looking. I don't think Cross' brand looked like that for the time of manufacture claimed by the seller. I am not an authority by any means, but the clip seems a later addition.

[nostalgiacforever]

Thanks for your comments. Hope other members also chime in.

 

What is the procedure for listing the entire lot of 200 pens for sale as a lot? I think it would be a better site being specialised to Pens and thus would attract genuine people. Any help here?

 

Thanks

[MrThoth]

Cross was making fountain pens in the Thirties and Forties, though I think it's fair to say their main focus was on mechanical pencils during that period.

 

I've looked through my copy of Writing History: 150 Years of the A.T. Cross Company, the company's official history, published about twenty years ago. While I can't say that its coverage is complete (and it's certainly not as well organized as I'd like), it has lots of pictures of pens from the period. None of the Cross pens pictured look anything like this pen. Points of difference between the wide-bodied celluloid pens pictured in the book and the one you've got include:

 

--the clips are plain; they do not have the word CROSS on them (your clip looks very much like the ones on Cross Townsends, though I can't say for sure without seeing it from the side)

 

--the bands at the bottom of the cap are two small silver bands, not one large striated band as on your pen

 

--they're lever fillers (can't tell if yours is or not)

 

--to the extent I can clearly see the nibs in the book's pictures, they don't look at all like the nib on your pen; your nib looks very much like a typical modern Cross nib

 

--none of the body designs shown have anything like the green vertical lines on your pen; they're the typical mottled/speckled patterns you often see on pens from this era

 

--none of the pens have any writing on the barrel, as yours does

 

Also, I can't see the writing clearly on your pen, but if it says it's manufactured in New York, that raises concerns as well. I believe all of Cross's manufacturing at that time was done in Rhode Island.

 

Again, I can't say the book is definitive. But based on what I see, this is not an authentic Cross pen. I'm guessing it's some sort of Frankenpen cobbled together in the past 20 years.

[MrThoth]

 

 

What is the procedure for listing the entire lot of 200 pens for sale as a lot? I think it would be a better site being specialised to Pens and thus would attract genuine people. Any help here?

 

In theory you could list the whole thing on the boards -- there's a post in the Mall board right now where someone is trying to sell an entire collection for 80K euros. It's just a matter of coming up with a thorough list and saying what price you want for them.

 

However, particularly with vintage pens, I suspect buyers may want to see pictures of the pens in question. So I'd suggest either be prepared to send them to individuals who request them, or find a way to list the pens that lets you include lots of pictures.

 

Good luck! I am looking forward to seeing what you put up for sale.

[nostalgiacforever]

Not able to put Excel sheet. It got jumbled up! Sorry.

[MrThoth]

Best to post it in the Mall anyway, if you do get it sorted out/reformatted. Or maybe you could post it on Google Docs and then make the link to the document available here on the FPN boards.

 

And from the looks of that list, more information and/or pictures are definitely going to be necessary. From those descriptions I, at least, can't really tell what any of the pens are. Model names/numbers are a must, I'd say.

Edited September 20, 2015 by MrThoth

[Jerome Tarshis]

Although nostalgicforever may be perfectly aware of this, it may be worth saying that only premium members may post for-sale offers to The Mall. FPN software would point that out, if applicable; it's just that posting to The Mall isn't the same sort of thing as posting to the Cross forum.

[nostalgiacforever]

Thanks Mr Thoth. And Jerome for pointing out my ineligibility to post.

 

Doesnt matter. I was really interested in Cross because I didnt want the gentleman to feel that he was shortchanged. I would try to sort out the document to see if it can be better posted.

Thank you once again.