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Duofold Centennial Markings

drgoretex

By drgoretex
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drgoretex Vintage

drgoretex

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Just picked up an absolutely beautiful Black Parker Duofold Centennial on eBay. Got a question about the markings on it, wondered if a Parker fan could help me out.

 

On the end of the barrel is inscribed, "Parker" with the logo, "Made in UK", but also "Q. 111".

 

So, what in the world is "Q. 111"?

 

Just curious.

 

Man, this is a nice pen.

 

Ken

Cavers Custom Pens

 

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Florida Blue Collectors Item

Florida Blue

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It's a date code. Parker has been imprinting date codes on their pens since the late 1930s but they have changed the sequence multiple times.

 

Your's means the 1st quarter of 2010.

Parker: Sonnet Flighter, Rialto Red Metallic Laque, IM Chiseled Gunmetal, Latitude Stainless, 45 Black, Duovac Blue Pearl Striped, 51 Standard Black, Vac Jr. Black, 51 Aero Black, 51 Vac Blue Cedar, Duofold Jr. Lapis, 51 Aero Demi Black, 51 Aero Demi Teal, 51 Aero Navy Gray, Duofold Pastel Moire Violet, Vac Major Golden Brown, Vac Deb. Emerald, 51 Vac Dove Gray, Vac Major Azure, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, 51 Vac Black GF Cap, 51 Forest Green GF cap, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, Duovac Senior Green & Gold, Duovac Deb. Black, Challenger Black, 51 Aero Midnight, Vac. Emerald Jr., Challenger Gray Pearl, 51 Vac Black, Duofold Int. Black, Duofold Jr. Red.

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Rich L Rare

Rich L

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Posted (edited)

I just looked at a some of the black Centennials I have and one has "111E" and another "111Q" (reversed from Ken's pen) and another has just "U"

 

Some of the other Centennials I have show no code.

 

I'd love to see the decoder scheme for all this as I don't see how someone gets 1st quarter 2010 out of Q111 (should be 2011, maybe??). In any case ...

 

Other codes are 1Y (or IY), U.111,1A (or IA), 1E, etc ...

 

I also have a Marble Maroon Centennial from the late 80's or early 90's and a Marble Green from ~1987, and an Orange one that have 111Q so that code can't definitively mean the year 2010.

 

Update: I found a website with the codes: http://parkerpens.net/codekey.html (I presume it's all correct)

 

Florida is right - the code has changed and is confusing with the decoder ring. So my 111Q means 1st quarter 1990 in spite of the incorrect ages I mentioned above. Also the according to the website Q.111 can mean either 2000 or 2010.

 

Learning something every day ...

 

Cheers,

Rich

Edited by Rich L

Classic Guilloché ------------ www.argentblue.com ------------Damascus Steel

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drgoretex Vintage

drgoretex

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I just looked at a some of the black Centennials I have and one has "111E" and another "111Q" (reversed from Ken's pen) and another has just "U"

 

Some of the other Centennials I have show no code.

 

I'd love to see the decoder scheme for all this as I don't see how someone gets 1st quarter 2010 out of Q111 (should be 2011, maybe??). In any case ...

 

Other codes are 1Y (or IY), U.111,1A (or IA), 1E, etc ...

 

I also have a Marble Maroon Centennial from the late 80's or early 90's and a Marble Green from ~1987, and an Orange one that have 111Q so that code can't definitively mean the year 2010.

 

Cheers,

Rich

 

Ah, a wrench in the works. Well, I bit the bullet and searched, and came up with this:

 

http://parkerpens.net/codekey.html

 

So my pen is indeed 2010 first quarter, and your 111Q is 1990 first quarter.

 

The 1Y is 3rd quarter '96, the U.111 is first q. 2001, 1A is 3rd q. '92, and 1E is 3rd q. '98.

 

Hey, that was fun :thumbup: Reminds of dating a beautiful old Hardy Bros split bamboo rod my grandfather gave me, dated to 1943. Cool.

 

Cheers,

 

Ken

Cavers Custom Pens

 

Pen Gallery

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Florida Blue Collectors Item

Florida Blue

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The date code system is a little confusing but Parker repeats it every 10 years:

 

Q - 2000

U - 2001

A - 2002

L - 2003

I - 2004

T - 2005

Y - 2006

P- 2007

E - 2008

N - 2009

 

The date codes spell out "QUALITY PEN."

Parker: Sonnet Flighter, Rialto Red Metallic Laque, IM Chiseled Gunmetal, Latitude Stainless, 45 Black, Duovac Blue Pearl Striped, 51 Standard Black, Vac Jr. Black, 51 Aero Black, 51 Vac Blue Cedar, Duofold Jr. Lapis, 51 Aero Demi Black, 51 Aero Demi Teal, 51 Aero Navy Gray, Duofold Pastel Moire Violet, Vac Major Golden Brown, Vac Deb. Emerald, 51 Vac Dove Gray, Vac Major Azure, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, 51 Vac Black GF Cap, 51 Forest Green GF cap, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, Duovac Senior Green & Gold, Duovac Deb. Black, Challenger Black, 51 Aero Midnight, Vac. Emerald Jr., Challenger Gray Pearl, 51 Vac Black, Duofold Int. Black, Duofold Jr. Red.

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drgoretex Vintage

drgoretex

Posted
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Posted

The date code system is a little confusing but Parker repeats it every 10 years:

 

Q - 2000

U - 2001

A - 2002

L - 2003

I - 2004

T - 2005

Y - 2006

P- 2007

E - 2008

N - 2009

 

The date codes spell out "QUALITY PEN."

 

Hey, cool! I hadn't noticed that.

 

Ken

Cavers Custom Pens

 

Pen Gallery

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