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View Full Version : Price Of Vintage Gold Nibs And Buying Advice On The Vintage Nibs?



farhanc
April 7th, 2013, 01:18 PM
Hello

My question is what is average price for vintage fountain pen nibs made of solid gold.
As I have seen websites and the prices vary from the different sites.

Also advice on buying vintage nibs so I don't purchase the wrong nib, as some nibs are all gold other are have a gold tip with plastic parts.

Which type is better?

So what price do the nibs start for.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours

Farhan

fountainpenkid
April 7th, 2013, 03:51 PM
I don't know what you mean by "gold tip with plastic parts." Possibly you are taking about a hooded nib?
Anyway, the price ranges from $25-150 or more, depending on what the nib does and what pen it goes with...flexible Waterman's nibs often command high prices because of their flexible capabilities.

Scrawler
April 7th, 2013, 05:09 PM
Gold fountain pen nibs are not solid gold. They are alloys either 12, 14 or 18 karat, with 14 karat being the most common. Thus a 12 karat nib is 50% gold. The alloy metals are usually various combinations of silver and copper with small amounts of other metals. The exact alloy affects the behavior of the nib and affects its price. Some nibs are very common and some nibs are very rare. The shape of the nib and the manufacturer affects the value of a nib too. The question is too generalized to answer as asked. For instance if you asked whet is the average price of a Waterman #7 Pink, or what is the average price of a Warranted #2 it may be possible to answer. But to average out all the prices ever paid for 14K nibs would give no useful information.

As to your question about buying the right nib, that depends on what pen you want to put it in, because the shapes vary. You might get a nib where the curvature matches your feed, but is too long to fit in the cap. When you buy a nib you must match it to the feed. Otherwise you could get an excessively wet pen, or maybe a very dry pen. There are times when the best thing you can do to resurrect a very special pen is to send it to a "nibmiester" and have them select and match for you.