Old accoutrements of writing, such as fountain pens, ink wells, ink blotters, writing slopes, postage scales, stamp boxes and even pencils can fetch good prices at auction.
Mr John FitzGerald, a fountain pen specialist at the Pen Corner in College Green in Dublin, says the best pens that tend to turn up here are mostly Parker or Waterman models from early this century.
The Pen Corner services old pens of sentimental value which tend to have a replacement value of £100 to £200. Mr FitzGerald's advice to people wishing to sell an old pen is to have it auctioned in Britain, where it will probably realise a higher value.
Phillips auction house in London holds two writing equipment auctions each year, with the next sale taking place on November 5th.
Ms Kathleen Bower, a specialist in fountain pens and writing equipment at Phillips, says individual pens in the next sale have estimates of up to £1,000 sterling (£1,110).
For instance, a 1920s Japanese Namiki desk pen sprinkled with simulated gold dust and embellished with a hand-painted orange carp has an estimate of £800 to £1,000.
A rare Swan gold-plated filigree overlay (a cut-out pattern through which the black beneath the gold can be seen) eyedropper fountain pen with a 14 carat gold nib, dating from about 1910, is estimated at £700 to £1,000. Eyedropper fountain pens fill by dipping them in ink - but they cannot hold much ink. "They obviously came up with better ways of filling pens," says Ms Bower.
A Waterman nine carat gold lady's eyedropper fountain pen with a fine line pattern and chatelaine chain dating from about 1902 is estimated at £350 to £450. Ms Bower says the chain was used to hang the pen on a necklace or belt.
Writing slopes or travelling writing boxes made of leather or wood containing inkwells, pens and writing paper can also sell quite well. An 1843 writing slope in the forthcoming sale is estimated at £150.
Inkwells can also be popular with collectors. Ms Bower describes as "very beautiful" a Capstan inkwell with a tortoise shell lid and a red glass ink liner which is estimated at £250. A silver inkstand with a tortoise shell lid by Levy & Salaman of Birmingham dating from 1919 is estimated at £230 to £280.
Ink blotters - blotting paper inside a leather case - can also do well. A 1940 French ink blotter in brown leather complete with pen stand, glass inkwell and Waterman pen has an estimate of £100. A brass beam balance postal scales from the 1920s with the postal rates shown for letters up to eight ounces is expected to fetch £90, while an 1890 brass postage scales on a wooden base with seven balanced weights in a mahogany wooden box is expected to fetch about £70.
The humble pencil can also pay dividends. Samson Mordan made "some very pretty pencils, ranging from half an inch up. Some had telescopic action - you could pull them out to write with them. They fetch between £90 and £150 per pencil", she says. A yellow metal, slide action pencil in the November sale is estimated at £90.
Meanwhile, four Mordan pencils - one with a perpetual calendar on the barrel and a telescopic mechanism and another with a barley twist body and a seal at the base - are estimated at between £200 and £250.
