The edition issued for the company's 75th anniversary is numbered “/1924”, which gives the impression of a very small run. The figure, however, applies to each individual type of product: the edition comprised some 35 different writing instruments and leather goods, each in 1,924 examples — around 67,000 numbered pieces in all. There can be no question of genuine rarity. The series never sold particularly well in the shops, and Montblanc later cleared it through its own boutiques at discounts of up to 40 per cent.
For valuing a piece from this edition — the Meisterstück Mozart 114 with its 18-carat nib, say — what holds for collectables in general holds here too: there are no price lists, and prices are not fixed but fluctuate much like share prices. Second-hand opinions are systematically skewed: those who want to sell quote high figures, those who want to buy quote low ones. The only dependable guide is prices actually achieved at auction for the same model in comparable condition. Where a model changes hands only rarely, nothing helps but watching the market patiently over months. As at 2009 prices for pens from this edition were low in any case, so there was much to be said for holding off from selling.