Nibs with E|N and PF stamps or punches
On some nibs, there are punches, which have partly led to wild speculations and myths.
The punches E|N and PF were partly embossed on the non-visible part of the nib, which is hidden by the nib ring. This applies to both historical and modern nibs. These stamps can already be found on the gold nibs of the models 100 / 100N and 400, if they were made of 18 carat gold.
These marks are easier to discover, of course, when they are placed in the visible area of the nib. This is the case for many modern nibs of the M600 Old Style, M800 and M1000 series. The stamp with the characters PF is probably a responsibility mark according to the former E|N stamp. The responsibility brand must be registered by the manufacturers and be affixed to gold products. We actually don't know for what country or regulations this was necessary after 1994.
In Switzerland there are also regulations what make a responsibility mark necessary. For this market, Pelikan registered some Logos and Symbols as responisibility mark so the Pelikan Logo itself is registered and e.g. the LEVEL lettering. You can find the registered responsibility marks for Pelikan
The stamp with the signs E|N were installed by Pelikan until about 1994 on 18 carat gold nibs. In addition, some pens have punches or other symbols, some of which look like a damage or a material defect. These are so-called control stamps, which were applied by customs at the time of importation. The picture below presumably from the French customs, where this practice was carried out on nibs until 1994. On 4th of January, 1994, the Code général des impôts - Article 532 had been abolished. Before the exemption limit in gold was only 0.5 grams, until 2001 it was 1 grams and from that time it is now 3 grams of gold. A French "Bureau de la garantie" has confirmed that the nib shown below bears an importer punch with the symbol of the earth with the initials TK, as well as a guarantee mark from Strasbourg (the curculionidae) for 750/1000 respectively 18 ct gold.
Nibs with corresponding stamps are more popular with some collectors. This is mainly due to the fact that the approximate production period can be read from it and more recent nibs are considered to be potentially more rigid in use. Like material errors, the more modern control stamps with the eagle head looks as well. The eagle head is the small control mark of the French customs for 750/1000 Gold
Apparently, the nib of the modern M6xx series with 18 ct gold has a share of (over) one gram of pure gold. The nibs intended for France were also given the appropriate control stamp, but elsewhere than it is known from the M800 nibs.
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