Update! 17 Mont Blanc Pens Found in the ocean and still finding more! + watch

[Richper413]

8-7-11 Update: All the pens are up for sale on ebay if anyone is interested!! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150644418605


5-23-11 Update: So I went with the detector twice over the past month to my spot and the first try I only found 2 more but had to stop early due to weather. This past Sunday I got up there and had 2 hours to search and finally got out to the muddier area. In a 20 square foot area I found 8 more pens ( 6 Mont Blancs and 2 S.T. Duponts) 1 broken pen that I cant identify and a 700$ Movado watch!!! I would have stayed longer but I was getting really stuck in the mud and the tide was coming back in. Most of these pens were found about 2-4 inches down and the garrett 250 had no trouble with the salty water. This brings me up to 17 pens and now a watch!

A couple of the pens are actually pencils. Some even still have the graphite in it and work! The ones that are pens have the original ink cartridges in them. I've only found one that had a Mont Blanc refill cartridge. Most of the pens work now but need to be pulled apart and fully cleaned out. I bought a new cartridge for one and I'm using it now! The pens sell new around 350 each and I'm hoping most can be refurbished.

Can't wait to get out there again!
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This is why I finally bought a detector. My family has owned a house on a salt water river for about 20 years now. When I was a kid, we used to play in the rocky shore at low tide. As we would play, we would find this pens sticking out of the dirt. At the time, my family and I had no idea what kind they were or the value of them. Together over the years we must have found 30 - 40 of them. Sadly a lot got thrown out because they considered it trash on the beach and wanted to keep there property clean

Years later I was on Ebay and on the front page was a Mont Blanc pen selling for 350.00 I instantly recognized the pen and realized the mistake we made in throwing out so many of them! I only have 7 Pens in my collection, 3 of which I was able to get working again. I brought all of the pens to the Mont Blanc store in Boston and they were amazed that they were authentic and still in such good condition. There's no tracking of dates on there serial numbers but the woman told me they look to be from the 80s / 90s.

Of my best finds in the water are the solid sterling silver pen (retails at 1200.00) and the S.T. Dupont pencil (900.00)

Each year I visit the house, I find another pen, or piece of one sticking up out of the ground. No idea how they ended up here but it made me finally buy a detector to locate the ones that are buried! Its amazing how long they can stay submerged in salt water, and still look nearly brand new!

[ivan salis]

wanna bet that a container of them most likely got lost at sea off your sea coast? and thats why so many of them washed ashore there?

[Richper413]

I used to think that but Its very odd that the pens have always been so different from one another age/style and that I found a S.T. Dupont as well, which isn't at all related to Mont Blanc.

[aaron7]

So cool! Never thought pens would be something of value haha

[gollum]

College Nearby?

Could be a tradition that when a Professor leaves, he throws his pen in the river. Did you ever see "A Beautiful Mind"? When he is in the cafeteria, and all the Professors file past him leaving their Mont Blancs on his table as a sign of respect?

Something like that.

When I was in the 82nd Airborne Div, when someone ETS'ed they tied their boot laces together and threw their boots over the phone lines.

Mike

[Richper413]

No colleges along the river, but there is a place nearby that has many weddings / functions... Maybe that has something to do with it. The pens would have to float a while to make it to our house though.

[diggummup]

That is the wierdest story i've heard in a while. I've got an empty used Montblanc Meisterstuck 163 rollerball on Ebay right now. It's up to $100 so far, not bad for a find in a box lot of about 40 diff. collectible pens I got for $20.

[Richper413]

The biggest downside to the pens is if the serial number is worn away, Mont Blanc will consider it a grey market item and wont refurbish them. since they are only gold plated with the serial pressed into the gold, most have worn away due to being in salt water so long. Many lost their serials from me cleaning them improperly

I haven't checked the area in almost two years now and plan to visit my family in the next week or two. I'm gonna try to get out there during a lunar tide. Is it going to be an issuse searching for them because its a salt water river with probably tons of iron and junk in the soil? The pens have either 18kt gold bands or are made of sterling silver and I have a garrett ace 250... Does anyone know what the best setting would be to locate them in a salty/muddy/rocky area? Thanks!

[aaron7]

Two detectors would make it go faster

[gollum]

I think your Ace250 is going to be useless on a saltwater beach, especially one with a lot of jink. You will need something like an Excalibur or another good detector built for such usage that has good discrimination.

Best-Mike

[Richper413]

It will be a while before I would be able to afford an Excalibur I'm going to be in that area next weekend so I'm gonna give it a shot with the 250

[ivan salis]

saltwater area advice for a ace 250 -- only run 3 to 2 bars on sensitivity -- the minerailized saltwater otherwize will freak out the machine --ding ding ding as it goes "nuts" seeing the minerailized saltwater as a "wall" of metal --by dropping the sensitivity level you in effect "re ground balance" the machine --so it can tell "real" metal from the "background" minerails in the saltwater --you will lose a bit of depth but the machine will now be stable and usible . abeit at a bit less depth.

good luch and HH -- Ivan

[Richper413]

Awesome! Thanks for the tip. We've found a ton of pens just on the surface or like 1/2 inch down so I'm not too concerned with loosing a little depth for my first round with a detector. I'll be up there this weekend and I cant wait to see what I will find!

[allen]

that is awesome !!

[High Plains Digger]

Once again, I have truly learned something new. I can't imagine how many Mont Blanc pens I have thrown off the pier over the years, not knowing that they had any value. If you figure the coefficient of the tide chart and factor in the speed and temperature of the current, then it must be that mine have become yours. I vow never again to throw away a Mont Blanc pen. Are they the ones the bank gives away?

[gollum]

Hey,

If you want to sell one or two of them, please PM me.

Thanks-Mike

[IndianaM]

Are any of them in working condition?

[Richper413]

Are any of them in working condition?

Yes! Most work fine, though they need to be taken apart and cleaned professionally. I put a new cartridge in one and use it all the time!

[Richper413]

Finally decided to list all the pens on ebay! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150644418605

Hope I make enough to get out of debt!