Another Quill on Ebay

[onuAXiD17]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10K-Gold-Alp...item415edbc73b

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alpha-Xi-Del...item5643ba5c00

And too many more. :/

[XiLoveAXiD]

That second one is the seller's own pin. I know I don't know her reasons, but it makes me a little sad to see a sister selling her own quill

I found this one, too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALPHA-XI-DEL...#ht_500wt_1287
Every time I see one, especially one this nice, I wish I had the money for it.

[DubaiSis]

Originally Posted by XiLoveAXiD

That second one is the seller's own pin. I know I don't know her reasons, but it makes me a little sad to see a sister selling her own quill

The economy sucks, and if this beautiful pin can go for the amount she's asking, that could be a car payment or food for a couple weeks. I don't know if that's the reason since I don't know her, but I wouldn't judge why people sell valuable and personal things. My pin is very plain so it wouldn't be worth anything if I tried to sell it, but if I was that broke, yes, the jewelry has to go. Knock wood I never get to that point.

[XiLoveAXiD]

I found a vintage Quill on eBay, but I'm confused as to the numbering on the back. I've always seen it done chapter number-member number, but this one is numbered "A-2067". Anyone have any insight? I don't want to assume it means it's from the Alpha chapter, but it would be very cool if it was!

[DubaiSis]

If it was member 2067, that WOULD be something. I'd probably call FHQ and ask. They should be able to tell you (or at least know, if they won't share) who member 2067 is and maybe what the A designation means. Does the quill look seriously old? Like for member 2000, I'd think the member would have to be from the 20's or so. The 100,000th member initiated in the early 90's (at Sigma, just FYI).

[AlphaXi_Husky]

If the A referred to "Alpha", wouldn't it be the 2,067th member at Alpha? Not necessarily the 2,067th overall? Though that member would probably have initiated 100 years ago or so, which is still worth calling FHQ about.

[amanda6035]

AZ-AlphaXi might have some info - she rescues badges and may have a similar example.

[AZ-AlphaXi]

Some of the alumnae initiates had numbers that started with A. Alpha chapter is chapter 0, beta is 1, and so on. I doubt that this would be from alpha chapter. The vintage Quill I have from alpha chapter from 1928 has the member's name and initiation date and and A on the back.

[Griffins&Quills]

I saw a different quill like that a while back which was numbered A-1384. There was a discussion in another thread about it. I'll see if I can find it.

ETA: The quill that I saw was the member's badge from 1974. And a Balfour badge.

AZ-AlphaXi gave reasoning: "Sometimes replacement quills had odd numbering. Also on occasion alumnae initiates had A followed by a number."

raelee said: "I was initiated back in 1980. The quill badge that I received after I was initiated has an A -####. I purchased a pearl quill after I graduated. It was presented to me at Province Convention in 1983. It has a B-####. Neither set of numbers is my member number."

AOII Angel gave this reasoning: "AOII went through a twenty year phase, probably while we were with Balfour, when our badges only had A- random number engraving. The letters went up to I. There is supposedly a list at headquarters that is poorly indexed matching up members with their badge number. In the late 80s, we went back to initials, chapter letters and initiation date."


I think it was determined that for the period of time when Balfour was the manufacturer of our quill, AOII's badge, and Sigma Kappa's badge, that was their numbering system

[Griffins&Quills]

And it does look like there's a Balfour mark to the left of the 10k stamp on the A-2067 quill

[XiLoveAXiD]

Thanks, that's wayyyy more info than I got from FHQ And all super helpful, too!

I ended up buying it anyway, I didn't want to see it end up in the hands of someone who would try and melt it down. Plus I really like vintage Quills, but they're usually out of my budget, so I was happy to pick up this one

[Griffins&Quills]

No problem. I was really confused about the A-#### quill I saw before too. But that's awesome! Makes me sad to see quills on ebay, and I'd love to buy some of them and donate them back to FHQ but I just can't right now. Maybe someday soon.

[ivyrose2]

Saw an old quill with a "U" shaped kind of safety closure that comes down (folds down) over the "c" clasp (the pin part just slides under the "c" piece of metal and the "u" folds over the pin/c as a safety. There is no other mark on the back of the pin. It is 14K and not jeweled, slightly smaller than a 1928 pin that the owner also had. I don't think it was hand made from the look of the pin and the lettering. The 1928 pin has a more traditional clasp/safety (the kind that can also be found on modern badges).

The clasp is much older I think than the date engraved on the pin (1933). I suppose it could it have been passed down and engraved by the second owner. It is from Eta chapter (Syracuse). Anyone else seen a quill with this type of clasp that can help date this badge?

[sigmagirl2000]

Originally Posted by ivyrose2

Saw an old quill with a "U" shaped kind of safety closure that comes down (folds down) over the "c" clasp (the pin part just slides under the "c" piece of metal and the "u" folds over the pin/c as a safety. There is no other mark on the back of the pin. It is 14K and not jeweled, slightly smaller than a 1928 pin that the owner also had. I don't think it was hand made from the look of the pin and the lettering. The 1928 pin has a more traditional clasp/safety (the kind that can also be found on modern badges).

The clasp is much older I think than the date engraved on the pin (1933). I suppose it could it have been passed down and engraved by the second owner. It is from Eta chapter (Syracuse). Anyone else seen a quill with this type of clasp that can help date this badge?

Do you have a photo of said badge?

[jolene]

I want to get the pearl quill and replace my plain one. It would be easier to go through eBay than Herff Jones.