Jump to content

Parker 51 Dating


Hoyt

Recommended Posts

I have two Parker 51's, one of them a gift that was given to me in the mid 1960's and has never been Inked, the other an EBay purchase. Try as I might I cannot find a Date Code on either one them? I believe they are around the same Vintage. Is this common? I thought that all the Parker 51's were date coded? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Any reply's can be sent to pickwick66@gmail.com

 

Thank you in advance, Derrick

Edited by Hoyt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 6
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • OcalaFlGuy

    2

  • Hoyt

    2

  • inkstainedruth

    2

  • Ron Z

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

I'm in the same boat as Derrick -- I sumgai'd a post-1957 burgundy Aero yesterday, and that's all I've been able to figure out. And only because of what it says on the sac sleeve -- or rather, what it doesn't say, which is anything about using Superchrome ink. It had the cap for a Parker Frontier (and was labelled as such by the booth owner in the antiques mall where I found it), which meant that I got a great price on it. But I'm stumped.

No markings at all on the barrel (doesn't even say Parker!); only on the sac sleeve does it say Parker "51" and to press bar 4 times -- as a comparison, my '49 Demi Plummer says "press 6 times". And because it had the cap for a Frontier, I can't even go by the clip style or anything like that.

Sorry, no pix. I know that it's post-'57. I did enough research on the "usual suspect" websites (Tony Fischier's, Ernesto Solar's and Richard Binder's) last night -- as well as for the other sumgai score, at another booth, of a 1st Quarter '48 Cedar Blue 51 Vac -- to know where to look for the breather hole in the barrel (learn something new every day!). And that it's definitely *not* one of the late model re-designs (MKiii?) because of the shape of the barrel's end -- it's just like on my other 51s. It's *not* a hoop filler like a 51 Special, but it *does* have a solid metal end to the sac sleeve, rather than the usual black one, if that's any clue, but I couldn't find any mention of this on any of the "standard" sources (and of course the cap is totally wrong -- but the seller saw that the cap said "Parker Frontier" and labelled it accordingly as such, *without* bothering to open the pen up...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

Edited by inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ruth, as you have discovered, if you don't have a 51 cap, Or a 51 cap you can reasonably assume to be original to the pen, your dating clues diminish rapidly after the '57 Superchrome clue. I think the only pen related clue after that, before the Mk III anyway, is the moving of the barrel breather hole.

 

Remember even some of the more well known clues aren't set in stone. It is usually reported the Press 4 time filler started in '50 when in reality, they jumped the gun a bit and put it in some late '49 Plums.

 

I also think there's been A LOT more cap swapping with 51's over the years than with many other pens. I've gotten 2 51s off The Bay that had incorrect caps on them until I switched them around. I even purposely bought a 51 Aero with a Vac Sterling cap on it because I wanted the cap but didn't want another Vac.

 

DSC00460.JPG

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Parker began to transition away from date coded at about the same time as they made the transition from the vacumatic 51 to aerometric. You do see some early aerometrics with date codes, but it disappeared shortly after.

spacer.png
Visit Main Street Pens
A full service pen shop providing professional, thoughtful vintage pen repair...

Please use email, not a PM for repair and pen purchase inquiries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what you're saying, Bruce, is that I can *only* narrow the date range to between 1957 (end of the Superchrome "era") and 1969 (when the MK III models are introduced).

I was hoping that the all metal sac sleeve would be some sort of data point, but haven't found any information as yet. I'm also surprised that the barrel doesn't even say Parker on it -- there are literally no markings at all.

Sigh.

The Good Thing™, of course, is that the dealer thought it was a Frontier because of the cap, and labelled it (and priced it) accordingly. That, and -- since it *is* a 51, it is pretty sturdy -- I dropped it last night because the Frontier cap doesn't really fit right....

I'd be curious to know what the *other* dealer -- the one with the 1st quarter 1948 Cedar Blue 51 Vac (and a "U.S.A." brand marked cap) -- will say upon finding out that the guy at the counter, who unlocked the case for me, let it go for a measly $10 (based on the prices of the Epenco and the Wearever).... Man, my performance was Oscar nomination caliber -- perfectly straight face, even after I realized what I had in my hand.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...