When you’re looking to get a vintage M900 Toledo Pen, the first thing you should do is ask around. It’s likely that your grandparents, aunt, uncle, or old family friend have a fountain pen lying around that no one uses anymore. I’ll go out on a limb and wager that, if you ask, they’d be more than happy to give it to you. If you still can’t find a vintage pen or if you have a particular type or model in mind you’ll have to do some shopping.

Antique Shops and Buy Online

While you can find vintage fountain pens for sale in flea markets, thrift stores, antique shops, and garage sales, you aren’t guaranteed to find old pens in any of these places. Your best bet is going to be buying a pen online or in a brick-and-mortar pen shop.

Sites That Specialize in Selling Vintage Pens

Best places to buy vintage pens online are from sites that specialize in selling vintage pens. In either case, make sure that they offer returns. You don’t want to be stuck with a dud. Also, unless you want to go through the hassle of getting your pen repaired, be certain that the pen writes before paying up. Often vendors will say if it works in the product description. If you’re unsure, don’t hesitate to message them.

How to Test a Vintage Fountain Pen?

As I mentioned earlier, it is best to test a pen before buying it. If you are snooping around flea markets, you might even want to bring along your own paper and a small bottle of ink. The first order of business is to ink the pen.

If the filling mechanism doesn’t work, the pen still might be salvageable after the proper repairs. To test how the nib writes, you can dip the pen in a bottle of ink and write with it without filling its ink reservoir. Write a few lines. Write large. Write small. Maybe do a few loops. To test if it is a flex nib put some pressure on the down strokes.

Testing a Vintage Fountain Pen

If the pen has trouble making a consistent line or it feels scratchy as you write, you probably want to pass. These problems can sometimes be fixed, but it’s best to get a pen that works well right off the bat.