I assist my wife Deb with her vintage pens sales business (https://www.goodwriterssales.com/). We buy in pens for restoration and sale but once in a long while a pen will appear that is too beautiful to part with.
Such a pen is this one, the Mabie Todd Swan Leverless L212/66. The L stands for the filling system, the 2 is for the nib size, the 12 refers to the decoration of the pen and the 66 is the celluloid pattern, in this case “Emerald”.
This pen was manufactured in the mid-thirties, a period of development and expansion for the company. They are renowned for the celluloid patterns and pen styles of this time.
Pens in this pattern are quite uncommon; perhaps for once I might use the term “rare”. Though we are not collectors I can't quite allow myself to let this one go, so it will join our small accumulation of pens we have kept.
It will, of course, be used. The nib is a firm fine, Deb's favourite nib type and one that I like too – very handy for note-taking when researching pens.
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