A counter pen (also known as a Security pen) is a pen designed to be affixed to the counter or table of an institution, such as, typically, a bank or post office by some means, typically a chain, ball chain or plastic cord, complicating the accidental or purposeful removal of the pen from the counter. As an alternative, cheap ballpoint pens frequently have an artificial flower attached to the shaft of the pen by wrapping both items in florists' tape. This had the dual purpose of making the pen serve as part of a somewhat tacky but acceptable counter decoration when several similar pens are grouped together in a glass container to serve as a "flower vase", but it makes the pen harder to accidentally steal when the user obviously notices that the pen is adorned with an inconvenient decorative accoutrement.
Pens in banks and other financial organisations may also be affixed to avoid potential harm to staff. Artist Daniel C. Boyer has used counter pens to make drawings that have appeared in several exhibitions; the unwieldy, attached cord influences the drawing by hampering it.
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