Picked up a Maroon "51" Special today at the flea market, and when I got home to clean it, I noticed that the nib had a yellow cast to it. I do believe it is gold... Did Parker make these with gold nibs, or did Octanium have a yellow cast to it?

I have seen them too, and I believe some Specials were sold with Gold nibs. Personally, I don't notice any difference between the two types of nibs.

Ron

I have seen it reported that some of the 51 Specials did have gold nibs... usually transition period pens...
However, it is also altogether possible that the nib was replaced with a gold nib if sent back for repair, or just replaced with one.
I also have a 51 Special with a gold nib.
The Octanium nibs that I have seen are all silver colored.

I've got a "51" Special myself (also in burgundy/maroon), but the nib doesn't have a yellow cast to it. Like Griz stated, it could be possible that the nib was replaced at some point.

Thanks guys, that's what I thought. Oh, and Griz, I picked up something today with you in mind...catch me backchannel so I can send it to ya...along with a snorkel for repair...lol

The general wisdom is that later in the "51" Special's lifetime, if the factory needed to ship Specials to meet orders but had run out of Octanium (steel) nibs, the pens would end up with gold nibs.

You don't say whether the jewel is black or pearl.

P 55 in Dave Shepherds book says that in the mid 60's the 51 standard was changed to a frosted matte finish cap, pearl jewel, 14K nib, but the filler was still marked "special."

I have a navy gray one in my case at the moment that fits the description to a "T".

Thanks Ron, and Richard.

It has the polished stainless cap and a black jewel, along with the special filler, so it's definitely a mid run special...guess I just lucked out