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How Much Is This Vintage Parker 45 Worth?


frauz

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Well, that is dear for a 45. But there are a few points which definitely put it at the top end of the 45 price range:

  • gold cap,
  • gold nib (quite a lot have steel)
  • an unusual colour - the reds I don't see very often and the lighter colour is quite difficult to find
  • and you got the extras. A lot of these pens don't come with converters.
  • It looks in very nice condition - many of the ebay and flea market 45s I see have been pretty heavily used.
  • Broad nibs aren't that common. 95% of Parker 45s seem to have M or F nibs. (I stupidly didn't get a broad italic I had a chance on recently and I've been regretting that.)

My feeling? Probably you overpaid. But that's part of learning. You *do* have a nice pen that you enjoy using. That's a darn sight better than overpaying for a sh***y pen which you hate writing with, and I dare say I'm not the only person on this forum who knows that feeling!

Too many pens, too little time!

http://fountainpenlove.blogspot.fr/

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Frauz, don't get too upset.

 

Yes, you did pay more that the normal "45" price but then you also did not get a normal "45".

 

I have been using and collecting fountain pens since well before the Parker 45 was introduced.

 

I have never come across a Parker 45 broad nib in the wild.

I have never come across a Parker 45 gold cap in the wild.

I have never come across a Parker 45 Fiesta Red in the wild.

 

I have certainly never come across a Parker 45 with a broad gold nib, gold cap and in Fiesta Red in the wild.

 

My guess is that you may go a half century or more before you see another such pen in the wild.

 

Welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell. Enjoy the pen.

 

My Website

 

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Frauz,

 

What Jar said.

 

I've probably looked at 10,000+ 45s on Fleabay, I don't recall seeing a Fiesta Red with a GF cap before either.

 

I just recommended to another FPNer that they go for a $40 P-45 in our Classifieds mainly for it's 14k B nib. They plan on having it ground and pretty much part out the rest of the pen.

 

Here's my Fiesta Red Arrow. They also aren't so easy to find. It has a rounded CI ground 14 M nib. While I don't usually sell my personal pens, this is one I'd Never consider selling.

 

PHOTO_20150315_162856.jpg

 

 

PS; OTOH, I'm not so thrilled with your seller though...

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

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Here's my Fiesta Red Arrow. They also aren't so easy to find. It has a rounded CI ground 14 M nib. While I don't usually sell my personal pens, this is one I'd Never consider selling.

 

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Wow!!! That red is just amazing. My poor Burgundy pales...

A lifelong FP user...

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I have an English rolled gold capped black P-45 14 K, M...unfortunately it has in nice gold letters the original owner's name. Original box, too.

Paid a bit too much for it in the wild of @€70 Euro, but I'd bought up all the rest of the pens the guy had. My wife twisted my arm. :unsure:

 

Rolled gold is two sheets of gold heavily pressed over a base metal. It is not the much lesser 'gold plate'.

 

Is your rolled gold or plate?

 

Yes, run of the mill P-45's are cheaper than yours....and as those more in the know than I, say, you got a fairly scarce pen.

The main thing with all pens, does it write well?

 

A P-45 is a remarkably easy pen to take apart and clean...or change nibs.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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...unfortunately it has in nice gold letters the original owner's name.

 

Unfortunately? You have there a piece of history, not just another one off the production line. Look at the name and think up a few stories about when it was bought, why (a special gift?), how it came to be on the market ...

 

I look out for pens with the owner's name engraved ... often cheaper, but always with a story. I've sometimes been in contact with eBay sellers and found out what the story was.

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Even though it's pretty much confirmed now that I overpaid, I have to say that I'm feeling much better after reading all of your responses. The important thing is that I love this pen and I'm going to try not the think about the price anymore. A coworker complimented the pen today and asked to borrow it for a second -- I just stared at him with dead eyes and said no.

 

What a great community this is. Thank you all!

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Unfortunately? You have there a piece of history, not just another one off the production line. Look at the name and think up a few stories about when it was bought, why (a special gift?), how it came to be on the market ...

 

I look out for pens with the owner's name engraved ... often cheaper, but always with a story. I've sometimes been in contact with eBay sellers and found out what the story was.

 

This was my thought. I have a few engraved pens. I wish I had more. Kinda a pseudo-immortality to have your name branded on something. I may not know who these people are whose names are on my pens, but I remember them every time I pull them out.

 

A coworker complimented the pen today and asked to borrow it for a second -- I just stared at him with dead eyes and said no.

 

 

:lticaptd:

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Here are my Arrow 45s. Fiesta red ( or it is burgundy?) CT and dark blue GT. Both with 14k gold nibs and earlier version converters that were found on P51 c/c pens.

Edited by mitto

Khan M. Ilyas

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It would serve to know the name of the seller that harassed you into hiking up the price! That "lady" was not a pen lover but a great businesswoman. I have a great 45 that I bought for $28 on eBay, biu I would gladly pay from$80-$100 for your pen. You were overcharged but you got the great color, the gold B nib ( a big plus) the gold cap and extras! It is definitely a great find and I would use it daily.

 

Mine had the tines unaligned and I fixed it, was scratchy and I fixed it myself. So, not bad, but had problems. Yo could write out of the show, with the ink she "gave" you. I would practice some haggling for the next time you go to a show.

Edited by Oldtimer
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Not sure, how could I tell?

Mine says "Rolled Gold" on the back of the cap.

Life's too short to use crappy pens.  -carlos.q

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Folks who buy vintage revolvers say they didn't pay too much, they just bought too early. Enjoy your new pen, and remember that a bottle of good ink is about $12, a converter is at least $15, and a leather slipcase could be as much at $25+.

Baptiste knew how to make a short job long

For love of it. And yet not waste time either.

Robert Frost

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You have a beautiful and great pen...don't founder over cost, use it well and write wih joy.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

 

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

 

Mark Twain

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Folks who buy vintage revolvers say they didn't pay too much, they just bought too early. Enjoy your new pen, and remember that a bottle of good ink is about $12, a converter is at least $15, and a leather slipcase could be as much at $25+.

Quite true.

If pen prices continue what they have been doing over the last decade or so, your pen won't look quite so overpriced.

 

Around 15 years ago, when I was at the height of my pen collecting, I used to visit an antiques mall.

Top-notch Parker 51's were £12, and Sheaffer Imperials were £6 (I lived in England at the time).

 

The guy used to have mugs full of pens. I was flat broke at the time, so I wasn't able to buy every pen I liked. I passed up a PFM for £25 because I didn't have the money. I could have bought at least 20 51's for £8-£12 each.

I break out in a cold sweat whenever I think about it.

 

I bought a mint (boxed and re-sac'ed) green Duofold Senior from a pen dealer's website for £40, and that was a big splurge for me.

The dealer was more expensive, because he was a pen dealer, but I was willing to go so high(!) because I really wanted a Duofold.

 

What I am saying is that pens will generally increase in value, and that you must expect to pay more from a dealer who specializes in pens.

You probably would never have found that pen 'in the wild', so you were paying, not just for the pen, but a 'finder's fee' to the dealer.

She had to find the pen, add it to her inventory, and turn up at the pen show to make it available to you.

You can't expect that to happen for free.

 

If you search around antique shops or trawl ebay for weeks, you probably could have got a better deal, but you will never have the added value of the choice and convenience of buying from a dealer.

 

I think you made out ok.

You overpaid a little on the 'raw' value of the pen, but you gained choice, convenience, and a couple of useful items thrown in for good measure.

 

In 15 years' time, you will be gloating to yourself that you only paid $160 for it, plus the fact that you will have had 15 years of use out of it too.

 

It's a good pen. Use it in good health :)

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I have many Parker 45 fountain pens. Only three are red. They are

especially beautiful You seem to like the pen. It writes well . You have

ink and a case. You are happy ! You would make yourself less happy,

if you find that I paid less for mine ?

 

Don't second guess yourself. Write with joy.

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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Wondering how much this pen is worth, as I'm suspecting that I grossly overpaid for it.

 

attachicon.gifIMG_0266.JPG

 

I recently got this Parker 45 at a pen show and was very happy with my purchase. It has a 14k gold nib and writes beautifully. I don't have a deep knowledge of fountain pens (only started collecting last year), so I just trusted the dealer's price. However, when I got home, I started doing some research, and discovered that the pen is being sold on ebay for much, much lower than what I had paid. The dealer said that it was a rare version of the pen because of the gold cap and the lighter red color, which is why it was double the price of the other Parker 45's. She also threw in a converter, a bottle of ink, and a leather pen case -- maybe she was feeling guilty? I don't want to say how much I paid until I get some responses first because I feel really dumb and depressed. Thoughts?

If it "writes beautifully" then you paid the right price. "The purpose of a pen is to write". People can hunt, buy, try, again and again but not find the pen that feels just right. Each fountain pen is unique...has its own personality. A pair of Parker 51s can look almost alike, can have what looks like duplicate nibs, and still write differently. Same with the Parker 45, a great pen...especially with the original 14K nib.

 

Write and be happy! You did well.

Washington Nationals 2019: the fight for .500; "stay in the fight"; WON the fight

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