Parker 51 (original) Prices in 2021 :)

[TheRedBeard]

13 minutes ago, Carguy said:

So many times I want to advise a seller that their description or title is wrong, but I simply just never do....

I did so a few times for nice honest sellers, whom I previously bought pens from, just suggesting corrections or giving some improving tips...

Even quite big established eBay pen sellers make mistakes or suffer from certain inaccuracy from time to time....

I know one pretty experienced American guy with hundreds of pens  on eBay whom i helped to correct a few listings because he overlooked or missed some important details. 

He is a honest and trustworthy person, so I was happy to help him... 

[Aysedasi]

On 4/12/2021 at 11:29 AM, TheRedBeard said:

Yesterday, quite ordinary used P51 Burgundy was sold for $135.

I have also seen P51 Cocoa listed with asking price of £450 ($615) but it has not been sold yet...

 

I paid £66 (about $90) for my cocoa with an RG cap at the end of January,  OK, it needed a nib swap, but I had an OB to put in it.  

[TheRedBeard]

43 minutes ago, Aysedasi said:

 

I paid £66 (about $90) for my cocoa with an RG cap at the end of January,  OK, it needed a nib swap, but I had an OB to put in it.  

Not bad...

Around end of January I saw Forest Green with RG cap in very good condition sold on UK eBay for slightly less than £100 ($135). 

[Nethermark]

17 hours ago, TheRedBeard said:

Around end of January I saw Forest Green with RG cap in very good condition sold on UK eBay for slightly less than £100 ($135).

I bought a Forest Green with RG cap in very good condition on Ebay for €45 a few weeks ago.

 

And I just spottet this one. Offered for only €195. To be honest, the seller does mention that it is 'in the style of Parker 51':

[TheRedBeard]

40 minutes ago, Nethermark said:

I bought a Forest Green with RG cap in very good condition on Ebay for €45 a few weeks ago.

 

And I just spottet this one. Offered for only €195. To be honest, the seller does mention that it is 'in the style of Parker 51':

 

That's a bargain

[TgeekB]

What would you all pay for a NOS vintage 51?

[Glenn-SC]

This is a pretty small sample size for a company to base production decisions on.

Which NOS vintage "51"?
Are you buying to get a new pen to use or as a collectors pen?
What color, nib size, cap material (stainless steel, sterling silver, GP, solid gold), cap design (smooth or patterned), and what filling system?

The variations of "vintage "51"" are second only to the prices people would be willing to pay for them.

And correlation between the numerous models and the varying prices would be impossible.

[TheRedBeard]

Last night P51 Custom Insignia RG was sold for £330 (c. $450) on eBay UK...

[Estycollector]

I've contacted sellers who were posting a P 21 as a 51 or inaccurate discriptions for other auctions. Some appreciate and some don't respond. 

 

Having a good repair person you can trust goes a long toward how much I would pay. While my interest in more FP's in general has waned, It is always good to see the members here find a pen they have wanted. 

[TheRedBeard]

2 hours ago, Estycollector said:

.....

Having a good repair person you can trust goes a long toward how much I would pay. While my interest in more FP's in general has waned, It is always good to see the members here find a pen they have wanted. 

Hello Chuck, 

Oh, I agree with you on a significant advantage of having a good experienced and, importantly,  trustworthy pen restorer...

Nowadays, unfortunately, not many of them  could be easily found though I have known some here in the UK...

Pandemic lockdown made things only more difficult.

But let's see what we may have in summer... 

 

 

[TheRedBeard]

is it me only who have noticed certain price drop for P51s on eBay?...

 

Couple of weeks ago I bought a P51 Aero Lustralloy in NOS conditionfor less than £100 (£140)...  

 

Last week I saw about three P51s in perfect condition sold for less than £60... and last night on eBay UK P51 Insignia in excellent was sold for just £47 ($65)....

 

Summer is coming?..  

[inkstainedruth]

On 4/13/2021 at 7:04 AM, TheRedBeard said:

 

 

Yeah... some people here at FPN posted stories about "black" 51 bought at flea market that later happened to be a Plum one

 

Farmersmum did that on eBay the same weekend I got my Plum Demi -- for just over HALF of what I paid....  He posted about it after he won the auction and said "What do other people think?"  And I said "I think I hate you...."  (I had seen the listing but hadn't looked past the header and didn't need another black 51 -- and then the joke was on me because I had been so focussed on the auction for the Demi that I'd completely forgotten that I'd bid the minimum on what turned out to be an English made black 51 Vac with a mismatched cap; it had the cap for a US made 51 Special; I was able to trade for a more correct cap at a pen show).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

23 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Farmersmum did that on eBay the same weekend I got my Plum Demi -- for just over HALF of what I paid....  He posted about it after he won the auction and said "What do other people think?"  And I said "I think I hate you...."  (I had seen the listing but hadn't looked past the header and didn't need another black 51 -- and then the joke was on me because I had been so focussed on the auction for the Demi that I'd completely forgotten that I'd bid the minimum on what turned out to be an English made black 51 Vac with a mismatched cap; it had the cap for a US made 51 Special; I was able to trade for a more correct cap at a pen show).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Well I won’t torment by reminding you that both my plum regular and plum Demi both came from being advertised as black ones on the bay. The last two times I have hoped for this to happen, I’ve ended up with more burgundy ones. I have NEVER found pens of any type at a flea market or antique store….

[inkstainedruth]

Well, both of my Cedar Blue Vacs were antique store finds (one sort of locally, one outside Fairmont, WV).  The Forest Green Aero was at an estate sale (I scoped out the photos posted online beforehand) as was my most recent 51 (black 51 Vac but with the box and marked as one of the Townsend plant production pens -- not quite sure whether I want to attempt to straighten out the hood myself or let a pro do the work, after the trouble I had getting the hood back onto my 21 in the right orientation; that one wasn't particularly listed but managed to find it anyway.  Not as cheap as some, but I figure the box is worth something, and there was an Esterbrook 1555 nib unit in the box with the pen and I figure that's worth at LEAST $5 US just for that, because it looked to be in good condition).  

I've never seen any of the really rare colors of 51 Vacs in the wild.  And doubt that I could afford one even if I did find one....  Ditto for a British Bloody Burgundy.  While it would be nice to someday get a full-sized Plummer, I'm not actively looking.  I've got the Demi and if I stumble onto a full-size? Great.  If not, I still have the Demi.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[chromantic]

I just ordered a Teal Blue 51 aerometric with 1/10 12k gold cap (whatever that means) and 14k nib from Valentina for $113/$20 s/h.

[Carguy]

4 hours ago, chromantic said:

I just ordered a Teal Blue 51 aerometric with 1/10 12k gold cap (whatever that means) and 14k nib from Valentina for $113/$20 s/h.

Just because I’m curious, is there a website for this pen place? I’ll admit that I’m not familiar with it at all.

[chromantic]

I can't seem to track down her ebay store. I get her weekly newsletter which and order from there on occasion. I'll PM you the email and you can write and ask to be added.

[TheRedBeard]

12 hours ago, chromantic said:

I just ordered a Teal Blue 51 aerometric with 1/10 12k gold cap (whatever that means) and 14k nib from Valentina for $113/$20 s/h.

What's the pen's condition? 

[chromantic]

4 hours ago, TheRedBeard said:

What's the pen's condition? 

 

Looks good from the photos, certainly better than many similar ones I saw on ebay yesterday during a quick perusal. Whether the nib is a "smooth" as described, I'll have to wait and see.

The Pelikan 150 I got from her a couple years ago has the smoothest, shiniest surface I think I've ever seen and the furniture is flawless, too; the nib's a little scratchy.

[TheRedBeard]

3 hours ago, chromantic said:

 

Looks good from the photos, certainly better than many similar ones I saw on ebay yesterday during a quick perusal. Whether the nib is a "smooth" as described, I'll have to wait and see.

The Pelikan 150 I got from her a couple years ago has the smoothest, shiniest surface I think I've ever seen and the furniture is flawless, too; the nib's a little scratchy.

I see. It would be good to know your impressions once you have the pen received, because for $133 in total it is still possible to buy P51 i quite good condition.