But what you missed is that Alpha is chapter "0" ... PM me if you're interested in why. So chapter number 30 is actually installed chapter 31 or Alpha Eta.

What's up with all the quills on ebay these days. There are like 6!

Wonder if the pin collectors saw our new quills and are unloading their inventory to make room. Cynical, but those are my thoughts.

WOW. This is either custom, or an old style they don't make anymore. And a huge diamond. Out of my price range though (I doubt it will go for less than $250).

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-ALPHA-XI...item518d63e8c3

whoa ... that's a style I've never seen before. I'm betting that its custom. The number on the back doesn't seem to be a normal membership number.

Thanks for posting the link.

On eBay

15- pearl Quill. Looks like the pearls are not crown set:

Ebay Item number:
110469898372

auction ends Dec 20, 2009
I'm not the seller, nor do I know anything about the seller.

Just found another very rare one. The pearls also do not look crown set AND its a $20 badge.

OMG the starting bid is VERRRYYY low...I know it prob will be discovered soon and won't stay this way, but I'm putting a bid on it now.

Here's the number #120506998611

ETA: Shoot, and two hours after poster this, I've been outbid. :(

I'm going to wait til about 10 minutes before it ends in a few days...

It's a vintage crown pearl (20 pearls instead of 15), but the setting does look a little different than the other 20 pearl crown settings.

ETA: It really does look a lot different, but the one exlurker posted doesn't look very old. Hmmm... maybe aftermarket? Then again, both badges do seem to be pretty old, so maybe it's just a style they don't make anymore.

The one I'm building on is definitely an old one, it says that it's marked as "Ruth Walker '20" on the back. The one exlurker posted has the newer chapter number and member number markeing on the back, which they started doing in the 60's so it's at least that old.

I just can't believe that I've never seen a Quill with this type of setting and that there are two currently on ebay!

these two Quills are both "closed crown" set and I've also seen it referred to as channel
set. The one with the chapter number and member number has to date from between 1964 and 1970 as that's when they stopped engraving the member's name and stopped offering the closed crown setting.

The pearls in the one from 1920 seem to be set deeper .. but that may just be an artifact of the picture.

Uggghhhhh it's now officially out of my price range. Yeah $46 isn't that much, but it is for a broke college student lol

Here's to hoping that it finds its way to a sister...

This is why you should not bid at all, on an item until the very very end of the auction. I think I mentioned this somewhere before, but if it's something you REALLY want then maybe try setting a alarm or reminder to go back and bid on it at the end of the auction. If you bid on it at the beginning, it shows the seller that there is interest, and it's going to sell, and it lets other bidders know there is someone else out there that wants it as well. If you wait until 5 or 10 minutes before the end of the auction, and bid at the very end, you're likely to get a better price.

What I do is open up two ebay broswer windows - one with the item pulled up, where I can refresh how much time is remaining, and the other with my information already typed in, just waiting to submit the bid. The key to ebay stalking is to bid as high as youre comfortable with at the very last possible moment you can, so that in the instance someone else is doing the same thing, your high bid is hopefully higher than their high bid, and if it's not, it still would have been out of your price range anyway. If you're lucky, and nobody else is bidding on it, then even if you bid high, if nobody else is bidding, you'll get it for the minimum price.

Try it next time... :)

Yeah, I kind of new about the no bidding right away thing...I always wait til the last few minutes on an item that I really want, but I think I got too excited...the starting bid was $5.99!!!! I should have controlled myself though, lol

Good tip with the two windows thing, I'll have to try that next time!

Sorry for butting in, but I've had a lot of luck with snipe programs for this. I just put in my top bid and don't even hang out on the internet. I come back later and the program has done the work for me! Google "snipe programs", you can find them free of charge, and it will save you all the pain of waiting.

new listing on ebay - 15 pearl quill from Epsilon Phi chapter (Iowa State) ... only a two day listing and the price (right now) is very low.

item number: 370314611083

I got lucky awhile back (ok a few years) and got a 15 pearl quill from the early 1940's for $88. of course now I want one of the new ones with sapphires and diamonds....but can't afford it quite yet!