FPNooB

I do not believe it was made without a liner. Main reason is that there are no o-rings at the top or anything of the sort to prevent leaking. Also, the tube insert to me matches the period where the glass distorts when you look thru and it fits so well that you just "know" it was made for this. The paper that was included with this find says that this is the only one known with a liner, though of course I don't always believe what I read.

Thanks for the input, GREATLY appreciated!

Hi,

While there is room to discuss originality of the glass tube, do note that the paper cited would appear not to be at all helpful. It is merely an after-the-fact claim.

regards

david

Understood! It just fits so perfectly that it would be hard to imagine it being from something else. Thanks again for your knowledge!

I'll take a stab at the Zerollo.


The most interesting thing about your example is that is has an overlay over presumably hard rubber. You do see black hard rubber and celluloid examples appear now and then. Versions with an overlay are known to exist but do not seem to pop up as often.

It was hard to make out in your photos but the nibs look like generic warranted 14k nibs. What does the imprint on both nibs say? The top part of the cap is supposed to unscrew and should have a piece that sticks out. The Zerollo is a matchstick filler and the part that unscrews is used to activate the filling system. Is that intact?


The real X factor in a possible sale price is the overlay. Is the overlay factory original or was it done aftermarket? The prices on many of these 'rare' vintage Italian pens are way down from the highs of the late 1990's and early 2000's. Prices are hard to nail down because so few of these come up to establish a going price. Black hard rubber pens go for around $5K from recognized dealers like Gary Lehrer. Colored celluloid examples go for $6000-6500 from recognized dealers. A seller without a known reputation in the pen world is going to command a lower price. The key point is to determine how much more desirable (or not) the overlay version of this pen is compared to the plain black hard rubber or celluloid version. I would say $5-8k depending on who sells the pen and finding the right buyer. Don't be shocked to get offers more like $2-3K. That's all you might get if try to sell it yourself and want a fast sale. A Colorado (another dual nib Italian pen from the same era) can command $4-5K in the past but sold recently for $2.7K from a known seller.

BTW-there is no real evidence that Omas made any Zerollo pens. Much of this is based on speculation given the quality of the workmanship and the similarities of the materials and clips to Omas pens of the era. Zerollo did license the design to Dunhill for sale in the UK and to UNIC, a French company, for sale in France. So you can find Dunhill and UNIC examples of the pen. Also, the 1930 date seems too early for this pen. I believe the earliest patent dates are 1930 in Italy with the British date being around 1933.

GREAT INFO! Thanks so much!

I do believe the so-called Prohibition Pen was originally made without a glass liner.
There are too many examples known, none of which have a liner. Nor is such a liner the sort of thing likely to get removed in order to make the article more functional.

To me, it seems more likely that someone liked having a pen-shaped flask but wasn't so keen about sipping out of hard rubber, so found an appropriately-sized glass bottle to serve as a liner.

David

I do not believe it was made without a liner. Main reason is that there are no o-rings at the top or anything of the sort to prevent leaking. Also, the tube insert to me matches the period where the glass distorts when you look thru and it fits so well that you just "know" it was made for this. The paper that was included with this find says that this is the only one known with a liner, though of course I don't always believe what I read.

Thanks for the input, GREATLY appreciated!