Uninked Parker 51

[Bristol24]

So...I could really use some input from the Parker 51 fans out there.  I recently acquired what I thought would certainly be a used Parker 51 with matching Liquid Ink Pencil...both in their original case.  This is the basic Parker 51 in black with the Luster Alloy cap and chrome clip.  The pen is NOT a Parker 51 Special, however, as it has the 14K Gold nib.  When I got the pen and pencil by First Class Mail today I was surprised to find out that 1.) The Parker 51 has never been inked.  The Aerometric sac is unblemished...rinsing some distilled water through the pen produced ZERO hint of ink ever having been near the pen, and 2.) The Liquid Ink Pencil writes!  It appears that the pen and pencil were obviously a gift that got tucked away under a bunch of stuff in a drawer or box and then left there for 60 or so years.  There is no date code on the P51 barrel but I do know that the Liquid Ink pencil was only on the market from 1956 to 1962 so the age of this is is between 59 and 65 years old.

 

Anyway, my dilemma is real basic:  I thought I was buying a base model used P51 that I would use as a daily carry along with my three other Parker 51s.  The fact that it is essentially a new, unused pen changes things for me.  What would you do?  Ink it and use it?  Put it on "the bay" and sell it?  I have a 1948 "basic" Parker 51 already and I find myself gravitating to P51s with a little more "zip" in their appearance.  What to do....

 

Cliff

[Checklist]

I'd keep it as a collectible, and I like using my pens.  The LL pencil working is really unusual, from what I've seen, and used 51s are easy enough to find. 

 

If you're not interested in keeping it, you could look for a swap.  Should be able to get a couple of user-grade 51s for that set, at least.

[Glenn Atkins]

I'd leave it un-inked and buy another one to use.

 

Glenn

[FarmBoy]

I'd follow Glenn and just buy another one or possibly offer up in trade the NOS pen for another of more interest.

[Glenn Atkins]

In fact, don't even "dip" it in ink.  That's an important distinction between NOS or not.

 

Glenn

[Nurmister]

Completely agree with Glenn, there's no real benefit to un-NOSing the pen, the writing experience won't be any better than buying a decent example, which can be had for not that much. I'm sure it'll be easy to make a few dollars selling it to a collected with the explicit advertisement this is a never-inked pen, and buy a basic P51 with the change.

[TheRedBeard]

12 hours ago, GAtkins said:

I'd leave it un-inked and buy another one to use.

 

Glenn

I do agree with Glenn: keep this P51 uninked. 

I was in a similar situation last year but resisted to ink NOS P51 and later purchased a used one in excellent condition for daily writing. 

 

And I am now facing a similar situation with two uninked capillary P61s

 

[welch]

I would use it. (Yes, I hear the shrieks of "No!!"). A Parker 51 was meant to be used. It has wanted to write all these years, and its want has been thwarted. Further, you have the chance to feel and use a P-51 just as if you had been to the pen counter of a department store. You can buy a brand new Sonnet or Lamy 2000, but now you have a change to use a brand new Parker 51, the best fountain pen ever made, and it was made to write...not to sit in a museum or art gallery.

[FarmBoy]

If Parker 51s are talking to you I'm now worried.  There are millions of inked 51s, I've never understood the need to ink NOS vintage pens but no vintage pen has ever told me what it wanted either.

 

 

[Mike B]

13 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

If Parker 51s are talking to you I'm now worried.  There are millions of inked 51s, I've never understood the need to ink NOS vintage pens but no vintage pen has ever told me what it wanted either.

 

 

Pardon me for asking.

But if the vintage pens won’t tell you what they want, are you suggesting that the newer ones will?

(I’m amazed at all the references to talking to things that are not people taking place on this board. Talk to your phone. Talk to the hand. Talk to the finger. And now pens. I’m now wondering if they whisper among themselves when I put them back in the drawer…)

[Bristol24]

Do pens talk?  No.  But they do inspire thought and reasoning which can feel as though they might be talking.  Each of us is passionate about our hobby/addiction in unique and personal ways. Please consider my dilemma.  This Parker 51 and matching Liquid Lead pencil are not really New Old Stock but they are unique.  While the pen has obviously never been inked and the pencil actually writes (for how long is anyone's guess..it's 6 decades old) and has an eraser that has never touched paper, the case is deformed and discolored due to haphazard storage.  I have to admit that the pen looks quite nice and I would enjoy using it but I cannot bring myself to fill it because once it is filled it is no longer unique.  So, for me the set is a conundrum.  Do I just go look at it once in a while?  Do I just say to heck with it, fill the darn thing and then spend a few years being remorseful?  I guess I am not a collector.  I'm an accumulater.  I will see about taking some photos and posting them.

[Aysedasi]

Use it.  It was never meant to be an ornament.  I can't think of anything worse than leaving it unused, personally.  Might as well just sell it on.  

[Karmachanic]

Nigel Tufnel had a guitar like that.

[FarmBoy]

56 minutes ago, Karmachanic said:

Nigel Tufnel had a guitar like that.

Don’t even look at it. 

[A Smug Dill]

On 4/30/2021 at 9:22 AM, Bristol24 said:

The fact that it is essentially a new, unused pen changes things for me.  What would you do?  Ink it and use it?  Put it on "the bay" and sell it?

 

If it were me, then no, I wouldn't sell it, and not because I have any love for either the Parker 51 as a pen model or more generally Parker as a brand.

 

11 hours ago, Bristol24 said:

This Parker 51 and matching Liquid Lead pencil are not really New Old Stock but they are unique.  While the pen has obviously never been inked and the pencil actually writes (for how long is anyone's guess..it's 6 decades old) and has an eraser that has never touched paper, the case is deformed and discolored due to haphazard storage.  I have to admit that the pen looks quite nice and I would enjoy using it but I cannot bring myself to fill it because once it is filled it is no longer unique.  So, for me the set is a conundrum.  Do I just go look at it once in a while?

 

That, to me, is key: you, as the item's rightful owner, are cognisant that it's unique. If you choose to relinquish the pen (or the set), either by selling it in its present condition or by giving it away as a present, the opportunity will most likely not come around again, especially if you're not going to be actively scouting for such. Unless the opportunity you even more strongly do not want to miss is that of giving such a unique present as a special gift to someone, there is little point in parting with it. Selling it gets you only money (and not life-changing amounts of profit, either); and money, or the opportunity to get an amount of money equivalent to the expected sale price, is not unique.

 

What you choose to do with this unique item of your personal property is, I think, a matter of what gives you the most pleasure, unless you're desperate to trade the item to fulfil some other material need. If you think you'll enjoy writing with it — far more than just having it as a “museum piece”, of which a large part of the value is in its rarity or uniqueness, for your personal collection as a hobbyist who recognises what he has — then write with it! On the other hand, if you don't think the pen would be “all that” with which to write, compared to other less unique pens you already have and/or can readily buy, then perhaps keeping it in its present condition and preserving its uniqueness may be what gives you far more pleasure in pride of ownership than a so-so writing experience with just another pen.

 

It's yours, full stop. If it's unique, then keep it out of circulation. If you're not convinced yet that you'll enjoy writing with it all that much, you can always just put it aside and/or on display for now; it'll always be your right to change your mind later. There's no harm in keeping that option open.

 

Whether anyone would benefit from enjoying such a unique item — should you choose to relinquish it — more than you would is irrelevant, unless you choose to base your personal satisfaction on pleasing others.

[Honeybadgers]

aerometric versions aren't exactly the killer collectibles. Personally I would use it. While there are good used options out there, a NOS pen does have some unique "new" feel that a used pen simple doesn't. I got a NOS in box eversharp skyline maxi with a semiflex nib. Yes it was new, but it was not a desireable color combo, and there are plenty of them out there, so I am using it. I love that the nib itself is just mirror clean and blemish free, as is the whole thing. Feels fun and special.

 

The only pen I own that I keep uninked is an uninked 61 in a relatively uncommon color, but one that came with a full pencil set and original box in superb condition.

[Glenn-SC]

On 4/29/2021 at 10:31 PM, GAtkins said:

In fact, don't even "dip" it in ink.  That's an important distinction between NOS or not.

 

Glenn

I agree completely.

There are millions of used pens to use.
NOS is an irreplaceable.

Sell/Trade it to a collector for a couple of user pens and two owners will be happy.

[Nurmister]

8 hours ago, Honeybadgers said:

aerometric versions aren't exactly the killer collectibles. Personally I would use it. While there are good used options out there, a NOS pen does have some unique "new" feel that a used pen simple doesn't. I got a NOS in box eversharp skyline maxi with a semiflex nib. Yes it was new, but it was not a desireable color combo, and there are plenty of them out there, so I am using it. I love that the nib itself is just mirror clean and blemish free, as is the whole thing. Feels fun and special.

 

The only pen I own that I keep uninked is an uninked 61 in a relatively uncommon color, but one that came with a full pencil set and original box in superb condition.

 

This is an interesting case, but perhaps slightly different from OP's one: don't (semi)flex nibs need to be broken in, which is a process that only the original owner usually gets to enjoy? If this is true, using a NOS skyline offers you something different from just writing with a well-kept used example. I'm not sure that's the case with the P51.

[CS388]

I'd sell it on.

As you say: it's a basic 51. 

Once it's inked, it loses its uniqueness and becomes another everyday 51.

 

As has been pointed out already, completely up to you.

Nice dilemma to have, though!

 

Good luck.

[A Smug Dill]

40 minutes ago, Glenn-SC said:

NOS is an irreplaceable.

 

There is no plausible need or impetus to replace it anyway, should it no longer be there (or no longer be NOS), especially if the item is not a tool, device or instrument being put to active use to fulfil a critical requirement.