An open desk drawer of pencils sorted into labeled compartments

01

What collecting pencils actually involves

Find, read, sort, keep

Most of the hobby is looking closely. You find pencils (in drawers, at estate sales, in stationery shops, in trades with other collectors), read what is stamped on them, work out who made them and roughly when, and decide whether they belong in your collection. A session is often fifteen minutes with a handful of new finds, a magnifier and a museum site open on your phone. The rest is keeping them organized so you can find and show them. Some collectors never sharpen a single pencil. Others write with everything they own. Both are normal, and you can do both with different pencils.

02

How to read a pencil

The imprint is the stamped text on the barrel. It usually gives the maker, the model name, a model number, the grade and sometimes the country. Collectors identify pencils by the imprint, so a pencil sharpened past its imprint has lost most of its interest.
The grade tells you how hard the core is. The scale runs from 9H (hard, pale) through HB to 9B (soft, dark). An American No. 2 is about an HB. Japanese pencils tend to write a little darker than European ones of the same grade.
The ferrule is the metal band that holds the eraser. Its color, stripes and shape are often unique to a maker. American pencils from the Second World War have plastic or cardboard ferrules because metal was rationed, which makes them easy to date.
Check the wood at the sharpened end or the bare top. Good pencils use incense cedar, which is reddish, sharpens cleanly and smells sweet. Pale, splintery wood points to a cheaper pencil.
Look down the barrel at the core. It should sit dead center. An off-center core is a factory flaw in a cheap pencil and a reason to pass on an expensive one.
Condition is paint, imprint and length. Crisp foil lettering, no bite marks and an unsharpened end are what buyers pay for. An original box of a dozen is worth more than twelve loose pencils.

A magnifying glass, an open notebook and a pencil lying on an old map — A magnifier and a pencil

A tin of pencils lined up in a row, with a hand holding one beside it

03

Four ways to collect

Open one to see where to start

Modern PremiumCurrent high-end pencils from Japan, Germany and the United States, bought new by the box. This is the direction for people who want to write with what they collect, so it adds a sharpener and point caps to the kit.

Start here

Buy one box of a current high-end pencil in HB, sharpen a single pencil and write a full page with it. Keep the other eleven unsharpened in their box: that box is the first entry in your collection.

Brand Name Pencils: A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Pencils

Vintage brand-nameThe writing and drafting pencils of makers that have closed or merged, mostly from the 1900s through the 1980s. They come from estate sales and online auctions, not stores, and need nothing beyond the base kit.

Start here

Before you bid on anything, look up what similar pencils actually sold for. Then search local estate sales for desk or office lots, where old pencils go by the handful.

Brand Name Pencils: Are old pencils worth anything?

Advertising and souvenirPencils printed for banks, feed stores, political campaigns, motels and tourist stops. They are the cheapest to collect and the easiest to build a theme around. The base kit covers them.

Start here

Pick one theme narrow enough to finish, such as businesses from your hometown or one state's tourist stops, and ask family and coworkers to save you any pencil that fits.

Mechanical PencilsDrafting pencils and leadholders, collected for their mechanisms and machining. You start with one current drafting pencil and a tube of leads, then move to older ones.

Start here

Buy one drafting-style pencil, unscrew the tip and take out the lead to see how the clutch grips it. Knowing the parts is how you judge a used one later.

Leadholder: The Drafting Pencil Museum

Open a direction to see its first step. Modern Premium and Mechanical Pencils each add their own lines to the kit, and you can switch on both.

For mechanical pencil collectors

Knockology Free forum for mechanical pencil collectors, with identification and repair threads

04

Your first weekend

Tick these off as you go

Two sharpened gray pencils on a plain yellow background — Two pencils, one maker

05

Storing and caring for pencils

Keep them out of direct sunlight, which fades paint and dulls foil imprints.
Never bundle pencils with rubber bands. The rubber breaks down, sticks to the paint and leaves a permanent stripe.
Store them at room temperature in a dry room. Attics and basements warp the wood and corrode ferrules.
Clean with a dry, soft cloth only. Water and cleaners lift the foil lettering.
Old erasers harden and crumble. Leave them alone: an original dried-out eraser is better than a missing one.
Keep a boxed dozen in its box, and store the box flat so the lid does not crush.

06

What trips beginners up

What to expect, and habits to rub out

Most old pencils are worth a dollar or two. Age alone does not make one valuable. Rarity, a sought-after maker and condition do.
A few discontinued models sell for $30 or more apiece, which tempts beginners to overpay early. Check sold prices, not asking prices, before buying anything over $5.
Collecting everything fills a drawer fast and teaches you little. A narrow theme is more fun and cheaper.
Sharpening a pencil to try it cannot be undone. If you only have one of something old, do not sharpen it.
Big mixed lots are mostly filler. Look at the photos for imprints you can read, and expect to keep only a few pencils from each lot.
Skipping the list. After a hundred pencils you will not remember where each came from, and that story matters to the next collector.

07

Where to learn more

Pencil collectors are a small, friendly group who document everything. Online museums show pencils by maker, long-running blogs cover factory histories, and forums will often identify a mystery pencil from one photo. The national collectors club runs a newsletter and conventions where members trade duplicates, which is the cheapest way to grow a collection once you have some.

The club, a blog, a podcast and a forum

A hand writing with a yellow pencil on a spiral notebook beside fresh shavings — A pencil in use

08

Why the kit is so small

The pencils themselves mostly come from drawers, estate sales and trades, so the base kit is only what you need to store and study them: a case, a loupe and one good book. Everything else depends on the direction you pick. The Modern Premium add-on is a box of high-end pencils plus the sharpener and caps you need to write with them. The Mechanical Pencils add-on is one drafting pencil and leads to fit it.

A yellow pencil, a metal sharpener and shavings on a lined notebook — A sharpener and shavings

09

Fill the pencil case

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the pencil case. Clicking a card selects it there. The storage case, the loupe and the book start in the kit. The Modern Premium and Mechanical Pencils lines join once you switch on that direction.

Pencil storage case with elastic slots

essential · Storage

Loose pencils in a drawer chip each other's paint. A zippered case holds each one in its own elastic loop, keeps light off them and lets you flip through the collection like a book.

budget

72 Slots Pencil Case Organizer w/Removal Handle Strap

4.6(2.1K)

$9.99

Pencil Collecting

What collecting pencils actually involves

How to read a pencil

Four ways to collect

Your first weekend

Storing and caring for pencils

What trips beginners up

Where to learn more

Why the kit is so small

Fill the pencil case

Pencil storage case with elastic slots

Illuminated jeweler's loupe

Pencil history book

Premium graphite pencils (box of 12)

Long point pencil sharpener

Pencil caps (point protectors)

Drafting mechanical pencil (0.5 mm)

0.5 mm HB lead refills