Hey guys!

I just bought a Parker 21 in Mint condition. I guess it has never been inked since the sac of the pen is still clear and transparent. It was an impulse buy and I was totally oblivious of its price. I paid about $12 for it. Is it the correct price or did I pay more????

I know nothing about the pen. Could someone throw light on the age, value and some other facts about this pen?

Here are some pics.......

$12 is a great price! I'll give you $12.01 for it!

Sorry....... , I'm in no mood to sell it....... .

That's a 21 Super with a nib much like the "51". Nice pen, holds a ton of ink, writes very nicely.

They go for $35-40 on eBay in mint condition, seems there were a lot that never sold. I like them better than the 45 (although that is a nice pen too) because they hold much more ink.

I have one in my rotation right now, filled with home-made blue ink.

Peter

whats the difference between a 21 and a 51?

david

2/3 down the page - "Not a 51, but an incredible simulation!"

Under the collector hood mostly I think, quite a big differance, when you see it.

Other than that, excellant workaday pens, very good price BTW, if it's a writer.

et

I, too, own a Super 21, and I like it, but I seldom use it. I own four 51s and some other pens I'd rather write with.

The differences include: The Super 21 comes standard with an Octanium (alloy) nib, not a gold nib. The tubular design of the nib is the same, though. The cap and clip of the Super 21 are much cheaper looking. The Super 21 jewel is white metal, not the pearl-like plastic jewel of the 51 or the black plastic jewel of the 51 Special.

The Super 21 has an inferior cap and clutch mechanism, one of about four used during the run of the pen. These range from the crudest, a raised smooth clutch ring with nothing inside the cap that engages the ring, friction alone holding the cap on, to various less crude mechanisms. I used to own one whose clutch arrangement was very like that of a 51, but not quite; it had clutch fingers, like some late models of the 51, rather than the classic windows inside the cap.

The plastic of the Super 21 is thinner than that of the 51. Not necessarily different in kind, though. The pen is shorter and smaller in diameter. It is most like a 41. In many ways the Super 21 may be thought of as a 41 with possibly disimproved cap and clutch arrangements. The cap is sort of the weakest point, at least in appearance. Its clip is the cruder feather of the Parker 45, not the more refined feather of the 51.

The Super 21's ink collector is somewhat smaller and simpler than that of the 51, but in basic design it's not terribly different. The Super 21's filler is simpler and cheaper than the 51's, and quite like the 51 Special's: a bar of metal wrapped around an open sac. Squeeze that metal piece to fill the pen. The UK Aerometric Duofolds I own have a similar filler.

To sum up, you've got a pen that's very like a 51 in writing performance and function, with certain savings effected in manufacture. Subject to individual differences between one example and another, you've got something like a 51. A good buy for twelve dollars. They often sell for at least twice that.

The pen was made between about 1956 or 1957 and 1965. It was meant to replace the 41 and possibly the 51 Special as a step up from the plain 21 and a step down from the 51. But the history is somewhat confused; dealers continued to sell off their existing stock, Parker used bits and pieces from this or that pen to push product out the door, and the history of fountain pen manufacture (like other kinds of history) is in truth less simple than it may seem in books.

Jerome,

Fascinating. Thanks for the info.

Regards

Richard.

Hi All,

Thanks for all the information, and special thanks to Jerome for a comprehensive explanation on the differences between 21 and the 51.

This 21 was very scratchy and fine when I first tested it...... But I smoothened it out with a file. And now its just wonderful....... wet and medium. I actually went with the intention of getting a 51 but wasn't lucky enough to get one. This is only my third vintage pen and I'm lovin' it!!! The other two are - an old 45 and a triumph imperial which are again, not less than wonderful.

I have another question about the modern 45...... Is the barrel of the modern 45 flighter shorter than the plastic barrels???

Thanks again!

Regards,
Steve.