Parker Date Codes Discussion

[streeton]

A summary of what I have read suggests that Parker date codes were reintroduced in England and France circa 1970 and in the USA circa 1980. Well I must say I have never seen a date coded 1970's Parker Made in England (or France) and would love to see an example of one. I have Parker Classics from the 70's Made in England but devoid of date codes. I have a USA made jotter lead cartridge pencil date coded NL (1979) and this is the only pen I have from the 70's that is date coded. Interestingly I own a Parker Classic push style mechanical pencil in matte grey/gray and I think the production of these started after 1986 yet it is date coded PL (1977). I have seen another matte grey classic on Ebay in the last 6 months showing this PL date code. How can this be - 1977 is much too early for matte grey Classics. I suspect the PL code in this case may be simply referring to a PenciL (PL). I also have a Parker 45 Harlequin Made in England which is NOT date coded. All these seeming anomalies regarding date codes interests me and I hope to hear from fellow "detail" maniacs who would like to join the discussion and especially the "EXPERTS".

[clrfarm]

Wow, I can't wait for this string to get kick-started. Come on all you know-it-all's, get into action! So that I can read the threads and find out exactly when my Duofolds were made! Cheers to all, and of course, no offense ever intended. PN

[ceejaybee]

Well I'm going to throw my hat into this ring mainly because I've had my own theory on the current Parker datecodes for some time it is only a theory though, based mainly on the pens in my collection, most of which are French and date from the 70s and 80s. Hopefully other FPNers will be able to provide evidence to support or disprove this

 

I'm reasonably confident that in the 70s Parker didn't use datecodes until 1979 and that was in the US, I too would be very interested to see a 70-78 datecode - I won't hold my breath! The earliest I've seen is a NL 3rdQ 1979) code on a USA P180

 

Even though I'm not sure what year Parker started production at the Meru factory in France (1968 seems to be the earliest reference I can find) I'm confident that datecoding didn't begin there until 1980 beginning with the QE code. Everything ran smoothly until 1987 when the code was supposed to have changed from the E,C,L,I quartering system to the series of I's to denote the quarter followed by the letter from the Q,U,A,L, system (according to the datecode data that seems to be widely used) This seems to be where the discrepancies start, and where I believe the data is incorrect. I'm confident that the system didn't change until 1988 beginning with the IIIE datecode, and that the codes used for 1987 were PE,PC,PL and PI, I have too many pens that are decade specific because of model, style or finish to be from 1977, I also have a Parker salemans USA business marketing pen kit with paperwork dating it to 1987 containing advertising pens with the PL datecode. I don't have any, nor have I seen, any pen with the IIIP,IIP,IP or P code that dates to 1987 only pens that were manufactured in 1997. I realise that the 'official' data comes from Parker documentation that shows that the datecode system was supposed to change in 1987 but, for whatever reason, I just don't think they got round to it until 1988. All the 1988 pens I've seen have the correct codes (IIIE,IIE,IE,E) and from then onwards everything seems to fall into line, although I don't think all models were datecoded, I have yet to see datecodes on the 105s, 85s or Premiers, and the 45s don't seem to have datecodes on a lot of the finishes produced in the 80s for some reason?

 

@ streeton, I believe this is the reason your classic pencil has the PL datecode, I don't think it refers to the fact that it's a pencil, plus I think the classic pencils from 1987 were the 'ballpoint with a fixed .5mm pencil cartridge' type which means the caps were used on either ballpoints or pencils, so I don't think Parker would mark them in that way.

 

@ cirfarm, if your Duofolds are modern Duofolds these were produced from 1988 onwards so you should be able to date them accurately from the data.

 

I'm curious to know if any datecodes were used after they ceased on the P51 models in the late 1950s? were any used between then and 1979? let us know your earliest marked pen

[ceejaybee]

I'll post this too as this seems to be the datecode data that often pops up on FPN and elsewhere and is a great reference to anyone dating Parkers. This has not been compiled by myself I have copied it from another source.

 

Beginning in 1970 Parker in France and the UK began marking some of their pens on the trim or cap bands to allow for dating. Using the words "Quality pen", one letter per year, followed by a quarter marker, allowing for dating within a ten year span. Parker used this system more and more and it was introduced in the US in 1979. The quarter marker changed in 1987 from ECLI to III,II,I or none (last quarter) according to the below table.

In 2000 the code again underwent a small change when the quarter switched sides with the year and there was a dot between them "Q.III"

 

 

Year Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

---------------------------------

1970 - QE QC QL QI

1971 - UE UC UL UI

1972 - AE AC AL AI

1973 - LE LC LL LI

1974 - IE IC IL II Note that EI could also denote Q1 1984 or Q3 1988 etc

1975 - TE TC TL TI

1976 - YE YC YL YI

1977 - PE PC PL PI

1978 - EE EC EL EI

1979 - NE NC NL NI Date coding begins in the US

 

1980 - QE QC QL QI

1981 - UE UC UL UI

1982 - AE AC AL AI

1983 - LE LC LL LI

1984 - IE IC IL II Note that EI could also denote Q1 1974 or Q3 1988 etc

1985 - TE TC TL TI

1986 - YE YC YL YI

(change)

1987 - IIIP IIP IP P

1988 - IIIE IIE IE E Note that EI could also denote Q1 1974 or Q1 1984 etc

1989 - IIIN IIN IN N

 

1990 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q

1991 - IIIU IIU IU U

1992 - IIIA IIA IA A

1993 - IIIL IIL IL L

1994 - IIII III II I

1995 - IIIT IIT IT T

1996 - IIIY IIY IY Y

1997 - IIIP IIP IP P

1998 - IIIE IIE IE E

1999 - IIIN IIN IN N

(change)

2000 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q

2001 - U.III U.II U.I U

2002 - A.III A.II A.I A

2003 - L.III L.II L.I L

2004 - I.III I.II I.I I

2005 - T.III T.II T.I T

2006 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y

2007 - P.III P.II P.I P

2008 - E.III E.II E.I E

2009 - N.III N.II N.I N

[ceejaybee]

Crikey streeton - you've really got me going on this datecode lark!

 

I've some anomalies that I'm hoping someone can shed some light on?

 

I have 3 P75s with an S in the datecode, the first is a YCS datecoded silverplated 75 FP in the milleraies pattern, now I happy that the YC dates it to 2nd quarter of 1986 but what does the S mean? the second and third pens are 75 BPs in silverplated barley and on both the code is ES, again I'm satisfied that E dates them to the last quarter of 1988 but there's that darned S again?? All three pens have goldplated trim, is it simply something to do with the silverplating/gold trim mix or something else, does anyone else have similar finished 75s and can tell me the datecodes for them? I vaguely remember a while back a milleraies silverplated 75 FP with just an S code on ebay but I don't remember it having gold trim. I also have silverplated with Chrome trimmed pens and all these have 'normal' codes

 

The next is a blue trimmed P25 which is supposed to have only been produced between 1975-1990 but this has a code of IT dating it to 3rd quarter 1995 which seems very unusual??

 

ETA: Oh and I have 4 pens with a O code, well I think it's a code? It's on the capband where the code appears on other similar pens. It definately not a Q it's a perfectly circular shape and all 4 pens are the original laque finishes, a tortoiseshell 75 bp and 3 180s in Jasper, Malachite and Lapis Lazuli. What the heck is that all about!??

 

Anyone got any suggestions????

Edited July 22, 2010 by ceejaybee

[icardoth]

I'm reasonably confident that in the 70s Parker didn't use datecodes until 1979 and that was in the US, I too would be very interested to see a 70-78 datecode - I won't hold my breath! The earliest I've seen is a NL 3rdQ 1979) code on a USA P180

 

I agree with your theory. I have two Parker 75s made in USA, one with the NL date code (a Flighter) and the other with the NI date code (an Insignia). Those are the post-70s pens with earliests date code I currently have.

[Eccles]

If this table will cut & paste OK, these are the earliest modern era date coded pens I have... i.e. not 30s, 40s & 50s models.

Some examples of the same models have no code I can find. Glenn.

 

Arrow French Thuya lacquer. Q3 '86

Arrow GT Imperial, UK. Q3 '86

Arrow French matte black lacquer. Q3 '86

Classic Milleraiese gold plate. Q2 '86

Classic Flighter GT. Q1 '86

25 Flighter. Q2 '82

50 - Falcon Flighter GP. Q4 '82

95 French Flighter GT. Q3 '87

95 French matte black lacquer. Q3 '87

180 Milleraiese GP. Q3 '80

180 Flighter. Q1 '80

180 France Grain D'Orge SP. Q4 '82

 

(Edited because the darned table did NOT paste properly. G.)

Edited July 27, 2010 by Eccles

[nuno]

thanks~

[tarjeipark]

I have a Frontier (Blue/SS) that I know I bought in 1998. It has the stamp E.11, which would suggest 2008. I know I bought it in 1998 tho'. Can anyone explain?

Edited August 10, 2012 by tarjeipark

[Shaughn]

I've some anomalies that I'm hoping someone can shed some light on?

 

...

The next is a blue trimmed P25 which is supposed to have only been produced between 1975-1990 but this has a code of IT dating it to 3rd quarter 1995 which seems very unusual??

...

 

My Parker documentation claims that P25 stainless steel blue trim production was continued until 1999 :

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/140116-parker-25-variations/ post #32

[pvector]

I'll post this too as this seems to be the datecode data that often pops up on FPN and elsewhere and is a great reference to anyone dating Parkers. This has not been compiled by myself I have copied it from another source.

 

Beginning in 1970 Parker in France and the UK began marking some of their pens on the trim or cap bands to allow for dating. Using the words "Quality pen", one letter per year, followed by a quarter marker, allowing for dating within a ten year span. Parker used this system more and more and it was introduced in the US in 1979. The quarter marker changed in 1987 from ECLI to III,II,I or none (last quarter) according to the below table.

In 2000 the code again underwent a small change when the quarter switched sides with the year and there was a dot between them "Q.III"

 

 

Year Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

---------------------------------

1970 - QE QC QL QI

1971 - UE UC UL UI

1972 - AE AC AL AI

1973 - LE LC LL LI

1974 - IE IC IL II Note that EI could also denote Q1 1984 or Q3 1988 etc

1975 - TE TC TL TI

1976 - YE YC YL YI

1977 - PE PC PL PI

1978 - EE EC EL EI

1979 - NE NC NL NI Date coding begins in the US

 

1980 - QE QC QL QI

1981 - UE UC UL UI

1982 - AE AC AL AI

1983 - LE LC LL LI

1984 - IE IC IL II Note that EI could also denote Q1 1974 or Q3 1988 etc

1985 - TE TC TL TI

1986 - YE YC YL YI

(change)

1987 - IIIP IIP IP P

1988 - IIIE IIE IE E Note that EI could also denote Q1 1974 or Q1 1984 etc

1989 - IIIN IIN IN N

 

1990 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q

1991 - IIIU IIU IU U

1992 - IIIA IIA IA A

1993 - IIIL IIL IL L

1994 - IIII III II I

1995 - IIIT IIT IT T

1996 - IIIY IIY IY Y

1997 - IIIP IIP IP P

1998 - IIIE IIE IE E

1999 - IIIN IIN IN N

(change)

2000 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q

2001 - U.III U.II U.I U

2002 - A.III A.II A.I A

2003 - L.III L.II L.I L

2004 - I.III I.II I.I I

2005 - T.III T.II T.I T

2006 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y

2007 - P.III P.II P.I P

2008 - E.III E.II E.I E

2009 - N.III N.II N.I N

sorry to bump an old thread, but doesn the Q4 production date codes cause an identifying issue when looking at the pens? or is there some other key feature im missing?

[rosa471]

After spending hours trawling the internet, I find you guys.

 

Can any one help? I have recently acquired a Vector Flighter RB and FP with black top off eBay. Made in USA but no coding whatsoever, nothing, zilch. Nothing on the lid, on the barrel or the nib (the latter only shows the name Parker on the front and yes I did pull it out). Was there at any point that dating did not happen? I only know that the black top Vector Flighter was introduced in 1985. Beyond that I could not identify useful info.

 

Also I have come across conflicting info about the Vector being discontinued from an old blog dated 2007. Was it is is it still in production. Also a bit confused about US manufacturing. Did this stop when HQ moved to Newhaven, UK in 1986? Was it just the HQ that moved and not the production plant? You can see where I am getting with this.

 

Had not problem dating previous acquisitions like my British 51 (lid date coding there) and my US 21 (the nib helped there).

 

I had been after some sort of Flighter for a while but wanted something at entry level for everyday use. I'm happy with them of course but would like to at least place them in a decade.

 

Thanks guys

[Mike 59]

Hi, As far as I know, 'Vectors' in FP, RB and BP types are being made today, my most modern being 2010, and they are always available in supermarkets and stationer's shops in the UK.

The plastic barrel versions sold in UK are made in black, blue and claret colours, maybe white also, and would be made in France, I believe.

There are Vectors made in other countries too, and the engraved and premium versions seem to be made in China.

The datecode would be on the lower edge of the cap, halfway between the country of origin and the word PARKER.

But the stamping of the wording can sometimes be very light, and really only readable with a loupe and a good light source

You might know of the Parker datecoding system; and if you happen to have one of the year "I" it could be fairly hard to spot.

All my Vectors are of UK or France manufacture, so I can't help with any USA made versions.

There is a 'mine' of information about these pens at; http://parkerpens.net/vector.html

[spintronic]

My Luxor Parker Jotter CION copper plated pen has a date code of I-U.III Would anyone care to update the date code list for more modern pens? I got it in 2021.

[baz666]

On 10/18/2023 at 4:40 PM, spintronic said:

My Luxor Parker Jotter CION copper plated pen has a date code of I-U.III Would anyone care to update the date code list for more modern pens? I got it in 2021.

 

The Parker dating system Uses the words "QUALITY PEN", one letter per year, followed by a quarter marker, allowing for dating within a ten-year span.
This dating system was introduced in the U.S. in 1979.

The quarter marker changed in 1988 from a trailing E, C, L, I, to a leading III, II, I, or nothing (last quarter) according to the table below.
In 2000 the code again underwent a small change when the quarter switched sides with the year and there was a dot between them "Q . III"
---------------------------------
1970  QE QC QL QI
1971  UE UC UL UI
1972  AE AC AL AI
1973  LE LC LL LI
1974  IE IC IL II
1975  TE TC TL TI
1976  YE YC YL YI
1977  PE PC PL PI
1978  EE EC EL EI

 

1979  NE NC.....NL NI     Date coding begins in the U.S.
1980 - QE QC QL QI       Date coding begins in the UK and France.
1981 - UE UC UL UI
1982 - AE AC AL AI
1983 - LE LC LL LI
1984 - IE IC IL II
1985 - TE TC TL TI
1986 - YE YC YL YI
1987 - PE PC PL PI

 

1988 - IIIE IIE IE E (change)
1989 - IIIN IIN IN N
1990 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q
1991 - IIIU IIU IU U
1992 - IIIA IIA IA A
1993 - IIIL IIL IL L
1994 - IIII III II I
1995 - IIIT IIT IT T
1996 - IIIY IIY IY Y
1997 - IIIP IIP IP P
1998 - IIIE IIE IE E
1999 - IIIN IIN IN N

 

2000 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q (change)
2001 - U.III U.II U.I U
2002 - A.III A.II A.I A
2003 - L.III L.II L.I L
2004 - I.III I.II I.I I
2005 - T.III T.II T.I T
2006 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y
2007 - P.III P.II P.I P
2008 - E.III E.II E.I E
2009 - N.III N.II N.I N

 

2010 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q (change)
2011 - IIIU IIU IU U
2012 - IIIA IIA IA A
2013 - IIIL IIL IL L
2014 - IIII III II I
2015 - IIIT IIT IT T
2016 - IIIY IIY IY Y
2017 - IIIP IIP IP P
2018 - IIIE IIE IE E
2019 - IIIN IIN IN N

2020 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q (change)
2021 - U.III U.II U.I U
2022 - A.III A.II A.I A
2023 - L.III L.II L.I L
2024 - I.III I.II I.I I
2025 - T.III T.II T.I T
2026 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y
2027 - P.III P.II P.I P
2028 - E.III E.II E.I E
2029 - N.III N.II N.I N

 

If the pen has an "I-" prefix before the date code, it indicates the pen was made in India by Luxor.

 

[inkstainedruth]

6 hours ago, baz666 said:

If the pen has an "I-" prefix before the date code, it indicates the pen was made in India by Luxor.

 

Thanks for that information.  I don't have any of the Luxor-produced pens; thought I had a line a couple of years ago on a "Time Check" Vector on eBay that was SUPPOSEDLY from a seller in the US and SUPPOSEDLY had two different color ones in stock and at the time had 100% positive feedback.  Only two days after hitting the "pay now" button the seller abruptly cancelled the sale.  I found this out from PayPal BEFORE I got any sort of notification from either the seller or eBay.  EBay's attitude was "Well, you can't provide feedback on a transaction that was cancelled...." and I basically said, "HOLD MY BEER!" and provided the (appropriate) negative feedback ANYWAY....  

I'm starting to suspect that the US address might have just been a drop box -- and that the seller was actually ALSO in India, since I've never seen it for sale anywhere else except for sellers in India on eBay.  Unfortunately, all the other ones I've seen for sale are from sellers who do NOT have 100% positive ratings.  And for some reason, that design was ONLY made for the Asian Market (I don't know why -- it's a cool design, and it came in three different colors besides).

I had a little trouble spotting the date code at first on the "Flowers" Vector I just got, but eventually pulled out my loupe and and turned the light for it on.  And that pen is a UK production model, with a date code of IIIT (1st quarter 1995).  Not sure if it's NOS or not, but that's okay.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[lobster]

I have a Luxor made Vector saying "I-Q."

Is the trailing dot an Indian thing, or are there more examples? Can't remember seeing this on older pens.

[baz666]

10 hours ago, lobster said:

I have a Luxor made Vector saying "I-Q."

Is the trailing dot an Indian thing, or are there more examples? Can't remember seeing this on older pens.

 

My earlier post may have been a little inaccurate, my memory is not what it was.

I tend not to collect Parkers after 2010, ish, so I don't have a meaningful sample of later pens to check the date codes.

However, I believe the codes from 2000 to 2009 and 2020 to 2029 all had (and will have) a trailing dot, even in the last quarter of the year (collectors of later Parker pens may be able to help here).

I have redone the date code text to include the trailing dot (I was unable to edit the original), I think the original error was due to an overzealous use of copy and paste.

 

 

 

 

The Parker dating system Uses the words "QUALITY PEN", one letter per year, followed by a quarter marker, allowing for dating within a ten-year span.
This dating system was introduced in the U.S. in 1979.

The quarter marker changed in 1988 from a trailing E, C, L, I, to a leading III, II, I, or nothing (last quarter) according to the table below.
In 2000 the code again underwent a small change when the quarter switched sides with the year and there was a dot between them "Q . III"
---------------------------------
Redundant date codes  1970  QE QC QL QI   

before codes started     1971  UE UC UL UI   
                                        1972  AE AC AL AI   

                                        1973  LE LC LL LI     
                                        1974  IE IC IL II
                                        1975  TE TC TL TI
                                        1976  YE YC YL YI
                                        1977  PE PC PL PI
                                        1978  EE EC EL EI

 

1979  NE NC.....NL NI     Date coding begins in the U.S.
1980 - QE QC QL QI       Date coding begins in the UK and France.
1981 - UE UC UL UI
1982 - AE AC AL AI
1983 - LE LC LL LI
1984 - IE IC IL II
1985 - TE TC TL TI
1986 - YE YC YL YI
1987 - PE PC PL PI

 

1988 - IIIE IIE IE E    (change)
1989 - IIIN IIN IN N
1990 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q
1991 - IIIU IIU IU U
1992 - IIIA IIA IA A
1993 - IIIL IIL IL L
1994 - IIII III II I
1995 - IIIT IIT IT T
1996 - IIIY IIY IY Y
1997 - IIIP IIP IP P
1998 - IIIE IIE IE E
1999 - IIIN IIN IN N

 

2000 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q.   (change)
2001 - U.III U.II U.I U.
2002 - A.III A.II A.I A.
2003 - L.III L.II L.I L.
2004 - I.III  I.II  I.I  I.
2005 - T.III T.II T.I T.
2006 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y.
2007 - P.III P.II P.I P.
2008 - E.III E.II E.I E.
2009 - N.III N.II N.I N.

 

2010 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q    (change)
2011 - IIIU IIU IU U
2012 - IIIA IIA IA A
2013 - IIIL IIL IL L
2014 - IIII III II I
2015 - IIIT IIT IT T
2016 - IIIY IIY IY Y
2017 - IIIP IIP IP P
2018 - IIIE IIE IE E
2019 - IIIN IIN IN N

2020 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q.   (change)
2021 - U.III U.II U.I U.
2022 - A.III A.II A.I A.
2023 - L.III L.II L.I L.
2024 - I.III. I.II. I.I. I.
2025 - T.III T.II T.I T.
2026 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y.
2027 - P.III P.II P.I P.
2028 - E.III E.II E.I E.
2029 - N.III N.II N.I N.

 

If the pen has an "I-" prefix before the date code, it indicates the pen was made in India by Luxor.

 

[Number99]

I can't determine if this thread is about date codes for the UK only, or if the discussion has included date codes for all PARKER products along the way, and if the discussion is about parkerpens net's date codes being wrong, so I'll correct it. 

 

Delete the post and correct it.

 

If you cannot find the date code on the pen, do not worry if there is no date code, as the following may be the case.

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Number99

[lobster]

On 10/31/2023 at 9:21 PM, baz666 said:

 

My earlier post may have been a little inaccurate, my memory is not what it was.

I tend not to collect Parkers after 2010, ish, so I don't have a meaningful sample of later pens to check the date codes.

However, I believe the codes from 2000 to 2009 and 2020 to 2029 all had (and will have) a trailing dot, even in the last quarter of the year (collectors of later Parker pens may be able to help here).

I have redone the date code text to include the trailing dot (I was unable to edit the original), I think the original error was due to an overzealous use of copy and paste.

 

Thank you for your clarification.

Out of 82 Parkers, I have three newer than 2000, and believe it or not, but I found a 45 Flighter with a date code of L. (with the trailing dot).