The Meisterstück 744 was made between 1952 and 1956, and the still exposed nib is characteristic of those years. Several versions appeared under the same model number, differing in the shape of the nib and in the guilloche and supplied in solid gold (585), in rolled gold or in 900 silver. A version in 750 gold is not documented, though collectors do not rule one out for the French market, where 14 carat long did not count as real gold; such a pen would then have had an 18 carat nib as well.
Montblanc has hallmarked solid precious-metal surfaces on writing instruments since 1912. If the 585 hallmark is missing from cap and barrel, the pen is accordingly not solid gold but gold-plated. A test at a jeweller's is superfluous, since it would be possible only by cutting out a sample of the material and would leave a visible notch. In the hierarchy of the 1950s the gold 149 and the solid gold 744 stood at the top. A hairline crack in the ink reservoir reduces the value by the cost of the repair.