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Where Are The Date Codes On A Parker 51?


corniche

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Greetings all,

 

I was looking over my Parker 51 Aerometric out of curiosity; to try and find out when it was made, but I couldn't find a date code anywhere. I looked on both sides of the clip, all around the base of the cap, inside the base of the cap and all around the aerometric filler, (which says PARKER 51, squeeze 4 times, use only Superchrome ink, etc.). Can't find any date codes??? (Looked for older dots and dashes and couldn't find any; looked for the newer letters and numbers and still couldn't find any).

 

All the best,

 

Sean :)

Edited by S. P. Colfer

https://www.catholicscomehome.org/

 

"Every one therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven." - MT. 10:32

"Any society that will give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and will lose both." - Ben Franklin

Thank you Our Lady of Prompt Succor & St. Jude.

 

 

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I am not a Parker 51 expert, but if I am not mistaken it is on the barrel right above the clutch ring. The clutch ring is the ring between the barrel and the section. So basically, look along the open edge of the barrel when the barrel is unscrewed. A lot of times the imprints are warn pretty thin, so it might be tough to find...using a loupe would probably help.

 

Good Luck on your hunt,

Brian

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Sean--

 

Parker ran date codes on their pens until 1948 in the US. Canada kept theirs until 1952 or 1953.

1st-year 51's(and some in early `42) had the date code on the blind cap;by 1942 up through 1948

the d/c on a 51 would have been on the barrel under the clutch ring.

 

I would think that very few,if any aerometric 51's would have had a date code.

 

 

HTH,

John

Edited by sumgaikid

Irony is not lost on INFJ's--in fact,they revel in it.

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Sean,

Here are a couple of photos to illustrate the explanations given by the John and Brian, above.

 

1st Year

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/munsonhsr/parker%20pens/51/DSC_0022-1.jpg

 

after (happens to have a T for Toronto)

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/munsonhsr/parker%20pens/51/DSC_0015-2.jpg

 

As mentioned, it is not unusual for the dates to have worn off, or to be lacking.

 

Phil

Edited by philm
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More details about Parker date codes can be found here. If your pen does not have one, you can always narrow the date range by the details given here.

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Hello all,

 

Thank you all for the info provided and the links. Since my 51 doesn't have a date code; it must have been made between 1955, (if I read the Parker link correctly), and 1970, when Parker reintroduced date codes. Thanks again.

 

All the best,

 

Sean :)

https://www.catholicscomehome.org/

 

"Every one therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven." - MT. 10:32

"Any society that will give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and will lose both." - Ben Franklin

Thank you Our Lady of Prompt Succor & St. Jude.

 

 

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Sean--

 

Parker ran date codes on their pens until 1948 in the US. Canada kept theirs until 1952 or 1953.

1st-year 51's(and some in early `42) had the date code on the blind cap;by 1942 up through 1948

the d/c on a 51 would have been on the barrel under the clutch ring.

 

I would think that very few,if any aerometric 51's would have had a date code.

 

 

HTH,

John

 

John,

You are absolutely wrong about the dating of Parker 51s

The last date code on US made Parker 51s was 1952 so therefore you will find a good amount of Aerometric 51s with date codes..

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Just looked at mine and one has the Made in USA 50 but no other markings, the other has no visable traces of any marks. I don't know the changes listed in the chronology to date the second 51.

 

Very cool though, my gold nibbed 51 special was made in 50, as long as the body was not a swap out... The colors match purfectly so I doubt they where.

 

Thanks for the thread, I enjoy knowing when my vintage items where made :)

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Since my 51 doesn't have a date code; it must have been made between 1955, (if I read the Parker link correctly), and 1970, when Parker reintroduced date codes. Thanks again.

May be, but if the filler of your pen says "Superchrome ink" then you can narrow the year up to 1957:

 

1957 Last year for Superchrome on filler sleeve
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Since my 51 doesn't have a date code; it must have been made between 1955, (if I read the Parker link correctly), and 1970, when Parker reintroduced date codes. Thanks again.

May be, but if the filler of your pen says "Superchrome ink" then you can narrow the year up to 1957:

 

1957 Last year for Superchrome on filler sleeve

 

Hello icardoth,

 

YES, OF COURSE! Sometimes, being a jackass is what I do best. :bonk: I can date it using the Superchrome ink tag.

 

Well, the one Parker site quoted 1955 being the last year for US date codes; OldGriz says 1952. We know the Superchrome tag was removed after '57; so mine was made sometime between 1952(55) and 1957. Hey! Maybe I have a '57 51... I wonder if that's anything like having a '57 Chevy?! :clap1:

 

Thanks all,

 

Sean :D

https://www.catholicscomehome.org/

 

"Every one therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven." - MT. 10:32

"Any society that will give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and will lose both." - Ben Franklin

Thank you Our Lady of Prompt Succor & St. Jude.

 

 

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Thanks for the thread, I enjoy knowing when my vintage items where made :)

 

Hello DC,

 

No problem. Me too!

 

All the best,

 

Sean :)

https://www.catholicscomehome.org/

 

"Every one therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven." - MT. 10:32

"Any society that will give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and will lose both." - Ben Franklin

Thank you Our Lady of Prompt Succor & St. Jude.

 

 

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Sean--

 

Parker ran date codes on their pens until 1948 in the US. Canada kept theirs until 1952 or 1953.

1st-year 51's(and some in early `42) had the date code on the blind cap;by 1942 up through 1948

the d/c on a 51 would have been on the barrel under the clutch ring.

 

I would think that very few,if any aerometric 51's would have had a date code.

 

 

HTH,

John

 

John,

You are absolutely wrong about the dating of Parker 51s

The last date code on US made Parker 51s was 1952 so therefore you will find a good amount of Aerometric 51s with date codes..

 

 

I have no problem being wrong,Tom...............been there before and got the t-shirt..............

 

 

John

Irony is not lost on INFJ's--in fact,they revel in it.

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Sean--

 

Parker ran date codes on their pens until 1948 in the US. Canada kept theirs until 1952 or 1953.

1st-year 51's(and some in early `42) had the date code on the blind cap;by 1942 up through 1948

the d/c on a 51 would have been on the barrel under the clutch ring.

 

I would think that very few,if any aerometric 51's would have had a date code.

 

 

HTH,

John

 

John,

You are absolutely wrong about the dating of Parker 51s

The last date code on US made Parker 51s was 1952 so therefore you will find a good amount of Aerometric 51s with date codes..

 

 

I have no problem being wrong,Tom...............been there before and got the t-shirt..............

 

 

John

 

You're not the only one.... :roflmho: :roflmho: But I didn't even get the t-shirt...

Edited by OldGriz
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I've got a T6 code on mine, but made in the USA, I have to assume it's a 1946 as it's a vac, but how can the "T" refer to Toronto, if it's US made?

Mark

Gnothi Seauton

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There are a couple of opposing theories on that one, Mark. I am partial to the one documented in the Shepherd book, as they had free access to the Parker archives, and consulted the biggest names among Parker specialists.

 

According to Shepherd, there were two lines produced in the Toronto plant:

 

1) entirely manufactured and assembled in Canada. These were marked: 'PARKER "51" | MADE IN CANADA | [#] ' where the number follows the same date code method as the US one (last number of the year of manufacture, with dots reflecting the quarter of manufacture).

 

2) The parts were made in the USA, then shipped to Toronto where they were assembled into the finished product. These were marked 'PARKER "51" | MADE IN U.S.A.T[#] ' where again the number is as above.

David Armstrong

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I've got a T6 code on mine, but made in the USA, I have to assume it's a 1946 as it's a vac, but how can the "T" refer to Toronto, if it's US made?

Mark

 

 

There are a couple of opposing theories on that one, Mark. I am partial to the one documented in the Shepherd book, as they had free access to the Parker archives, and consulted the biggest names among Parker specialists.

 

According to Shepherd, there were two lines produced in the Toronto plant:

 

1) entirely manufactured and assembled in Canada. These were marked: 'PARKER "51" | MADE IN CANADA | [#] ' where the number follows the same date code method as the US one (last number of the year of manufacture, with dots reflecting the quarter of manufacture).

 

2) The parts were made in the USA, then shipped to Toronto where they were assembled into the finished product. These were marked 'PARKER "51" | MADE IN U.S.A.T[#] ' where again the number is as above.

 

 

 

I once owned a Canadian-made 51 with the unusual clip that had the blue diamond

riding on top of the clip(where it bends). It was a 1946 model,single-jeweled,with the

stamp under the clutch ring reading,"Made in Canada". I would assume that if it doesn't

read "Made in Canada" in the imprint,the chances are good that the parts were shipped

to Canada where it was put together.

 

 

John

Irony is not lost on INFJ's--in fact,they revel in it.

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  • 1 year later...

From 1950, the date was denoted by another two-digit system: "50" was the mark for 1950, and "51" for 1951. The system was dropped not long thereafter (the earliest US date code we have seen is "34"; the latest, "55").

 

http://www.vintagepens.com/FAQhistory/Parker_date_codes.shtml

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From 1950, the date was denoted by another two-digit system: "50" was the mark for 1950, and "51" for 1951. The system was dropped not long thereafter (the earliest US date code we have seen is "34"; the latest, "55").

 

http://www.vintagepe...ate_codes.shtml

 

Parker 51 can not have a date code of 34 as the pen was not released until 1941..... What David is referring to is Parker date codes in general.... not specifically Parker 51s as the OP asked about

And a Parker 51 aero would not have a date code before late 1947

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From 1950, the date was denoted by another two-digit system: "50" was the mark for 1950, and "51" for 1951. The system was dropped not long thereafter (the earliest US date code we have seen is "34"; the latest, "55").

 

http://www.vintagepe...ate_codes.shtml

 

Parker 51 can not have a date code of 34 as the pen was not released until 1941..... What David is referring to is Parker date codes in general.... not specifically Parker 51s as the OP asked about

And a Parker 51 aero would not have a date code before late 1947

http://parkercollector.com/codekey.html

Either or they used the date code system on all there pens including 51's

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From 1950, the date was denoted by another two-digit system: "50" was the mark for 1950, and "51" for 1951. The system was dropped not long thereafter (the earliest US date code we have seen is "34"; the latest, "55").

 

http://www.vintagepe...ate_codes.shtml

 

Parker 51 can not have a date code of 34 as the pen was not released until 1941..... What David is referring to is Parker date codes in general.... not specifically Parker 51s as the OP asked about

And a Parker 51 aero would not have a date code before late 1947

http://parkercollect...om/codekey.html

Either or they used the date code system on all there pens including 51's

 

Read what I said..... My comment is specific to the Parker 51..

Neither site is wrong.... but they are giving generic date code information, not date codes specific to the Parker 51...

HOWEVER, the OP specifically asked about the date code on a Parker 51 aerometric pen.... that is what I referred to....

Parker used the same date coding system for all their pens until sometime in the mid-later 1950s

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