A vintage pen can have a spotless barrel and a freshly restored filler and still write badly, because the nib is the one part you can't easily put right. Richard Binder, whose reference pages at richardspens.com cover most of what follows, warns that a damaged nib can turn an otherwise perfect pen into "pretty junk." Online you can't hold the pen, so here's what to look for in the photos and what to ask the seller.
Get the right photos first
You need three close views to judge a nib. A shot from straight above shows whether the tines run straight and the slit is even. A shot from the side shows whether the nib lies snug along the feed. A shot looking straight at the point shows whether the two tines end level with each other. If a listing only shows the whole pen, ask for these three. Binder calls a 10x loupe mandatory for spotting hairline cracks and worn plating, so photos taken through one are a bonus.
Bent and misaligned tines
Start with the view of the point. Both tines should end at the same height, with neither one riding above the other. From above, they should run straight down the center line of the pen. Binder explains that when one tine sits higher, its slit edge is exposed and catches the paper, which is the usual cause of a scratchy nib, and it can make the pen skip.
A slight misalignment is something a nib technician sets right as part of tuning, and Binder advises against trying it at home unless you're experienced. A nib with a visible kink or a crease pressed across it is a bigger problem. Binder shows creasing like that as the result of flex-nib abuse.
Sprung tines
A sprung nib has been bent permanently upward, away from the feed, by too much writing pressure. It happens most often to flexible nibs. In the side photo, the nib should lie close along the feed. Binder warns that a cavernous gap between nib and feed will stop the ink flowing properly, so a wedge of daylight there is a red flag.
The slit tells you the rest. On most nibs the tines don't touch at rest, and the slit runs straight or narrows a little toward the point. A slit that's wider at the point than at the breather hole means the tines have been spread. Genuinely flexible nibs are the exception, because their tines are made to touch at the point when the nib is at rest.
Be wary of listings that sell hard on flex. Binder notes that every time a nib is pushed too far the metal is overstressed, and past a certain point it won't return to straight. If you want some give, the Pelikan 400NN is a sensible place to look, since vintage Pelikan nibs run from springy to semi-flexible for the most part.
Worn or missing tipping
The point of a gold nib carries a tiny pellet of very hard alloy, welded on and then ground and polished. That's the tipping, and it's what actually touches the paper. In the photo of the point, each tine should end in a rounded bead of that harder metal. A tine that ends thin, sharp or ground flat has lost its tipping or been worn through it, and the fix is a retip, where a specialist welds new material on.
Ordinary wear is harder to see. Modern tipping takes many years to wear noticeably, but Binder notes that a previous owner can wear off a nib's sweet spot. A pen that writes smoothly for the seller can feel scratchy held your way. Amateur polishing is the other worry. Binder tells buyers never to let anyone sand a nib for them, because it can make things worse or destroy the tipping. If a listing says the seller "smoothed" the nib, ask what was done and with what.
Cracks
Cracks are the hardest fault to catch in photos. Binder says cracks that are just starting can be virtually unnoticeable, and the nasty ones run from the base of the nib toward the breather hole, the small hole at the end of the slit. Zoom in on the breather hole and on the area where the nib disappears into the section. Any hairline running from the hole rules the nib out, so plan on replacing it if you still want the pen. Because early cracks hide, ask the seller outright whether the nib has any. If the answer is that they don't know, Binder's advice is to look at another pen.
A nib that doesn't belong
Plenty of nibs have moved between pens. Pelikan nibs screw out of the section, the whole nib unit of the Parker 45 unscrews, and Sheaffer's Snorkel nibs and caps interchange across its models. The markings on the nib are your best check.
- Pelikan. A 1930s Pelikan 100 should have a 14-carat nib. One stamped PD or CN is a wartime nib from 1938 or later and doesn't belong.
- Sheaffer Snorkel. A Snorkel Statesman wears a silver-colored palladium silver Triumph point. A two-tone gold point on one means a Valiant or a swapped part. A Snorkel Crest should have the two-tone 14K point, so a plain silver one is a mismatch.
- Montblanc. A 1980s Montblanc 149 should show 4810 and a gold mark, usually 14C or 585, or 18C on pens made for France. Collectors report 1970s nibs and feeds fitted to late-1980s bodies. Ask for the underside of the nib too, because a known fake had a plated steel nib that was bare steel underneath.
Plating wear
Plating is a thin coating, and it rubs through. Parker's prewar two-tone Vacumatic nibs got their silver-colored area from plating, and a Pelikan M200 nib is gold-plated stainless steel whose plating can wear thin. In the photos, look for patches near the point or along the tines where the color changes. On a two-tone nib it spoils the look you may be paying for. Judge the writing on the tines and tipping, and treat plating wear as cosmetic.
What a writing sample shows
A photo of a few lines written with the pen tells you more than any description. Ask for one in ink on plain paper, with the grade written beside it.
- Skips. A line that breaks and starts again points to flow trouble. Binder explains that ink can't flow if the slit is squeezed shut, and capillary action can't pull ink down if it's spread too wide.
- Faint starts. If the first letters of each line are pale, ask whether the pen was flushed. Binder notes that a pen that isn't kept clean will likely stop letting ink flow.
- Railroading. Two ink lines with white space between them on a pressed stroke mean the tines spread further than the ink could follow. Don't ask a seller to press hard just to show you, for the reasons above.
- Line width. Compare the line with the grade marked on the nib. A line far finer or broader than the mark is a question for the seller, though Binder notes Pelikan revised the tip shapes behind a few grade marks around the mid-1980s.
What to ask the seller
- Can you send close-ups of the nib from above, from the side and straight at the point?
- Does the nib have any cracks, and has it been smoothed, reground or retipped?
- Is this the pen's original nib, and what's stamped on it?
- Can you write a few lines with it and photograph them?
- Has the pen been flushed, and when was it last inked?
Clear answers to all five are a good sign the seller has looked at the nib properly. The filler is the other half of the pen, and our guide to which filling systems fail covers it. For Pelikan grade letters, see Pelikan nib grades explained.
