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English Duofold Aeromatic Nib Markings


bunnspecial

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I just received a box from out of the EU with some great Parkers in it-a 51 in BB, a Mk 1 Duofold International, and two English Aeromatic Duofolds.

 

The English Duofolds are sort of new territory for me. I tacked them on to this purchase because they were priced right and we don't really seem to see them in the US. Both are black Senior Duofolds, although only one is imprinted as such. They have the same style cap bands as some of my plastic plunger Vacs have(wide gold with lines for lack of a better term), although the imprinted one is narrower than the other. Both have black jewels and gold clips. They also both have what I'll call the "Pinch" type filler(not sure if there's a proper term for it) I'm use to seeing on 21s and 51 Specials where the sac guard is open and "v shaped" pressure bar fits down inside it.

 

What I'm really wondering about is the nib markings. One of them-the one with the good strong Senior Duofold imprint-has a nib that's roughly F to XF and decently flexible out to about a BB. It is marked "PARKER DUOFOLD 14K PEN" and then "N" at the base of the nib just past the section.

The other is stiff and writes a wider line-about a modern western F, or probably an honest vintage M. It is marked "PARKER 14K ENGLAND" and then "35."

 

I'm wondering mostly about the markings at the base of the nib-the "N" and "35." Do those have any significance such as the point size or anything else, or otherwise is it known what they mean?

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Good pictures would be helpful. The seniors don't have wide cap bands. May be you have a Maxima cap on your Senior aero Duofolds.

 

Seniors, generally, have the #35 nib but these also sometimes come with the N marked nib. N means nib made in Newhaven, England factory. 

Khan M. Ilyas

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The "N" is for Newhaven indicating that that nib is of English origin.  "35" indicates the pen size (25 being the standard size, 50 maxima, etc). A fuller list is here: https://parkerpens.net/ukduofold.html.  Sometimes there is also a date code alongside the size.

 

It is not unheard of to find pens with size-marked nibs that don't match - presumably replacements for one reason or another.

 

I hope that this helps.

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A 1959 Standard Duofold nib with date code found on an earlier and well-used Senior Duofold:

 

 

125-FP (15).jpg

125-FP (1).jpg

125-FP (9).jpg

Edited by Sheptonian
added mention of date code
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Thanks! I'll get photos in a bit. I had read the referenced page but that site has a LOT of info and either I missed it or it didn't register at the time.

 

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Thanks for the photos. Hope you enjoy using the pens. Agree with Mitto & Sheptonian. The Senior has a narrow cap band so the one with the wider band probably comes from a Maxima-Duofold. Is this cap slightly longer when you put them side by side? From the barrel imprints, would guess a date of around 1955-1958. Got a couple of 1954 models where the senior sized model was imprinted "Parker Duofold" rather than "Parker Senior Duofold" & halo logo added to imprint on Aerometric models around 1959. The N (for Newhaven nib) will be a replacement & earlier than rest of pen-they used this nib imprint up to around 1952. The "35" nib is probably original to pen (35 is the correct nib size for a Senior Duofold Pen) & likely to have a date code on bottom of nib where it is hidden in section. Believe aerometric nibs from 1953-1959 all have date codes. On some years the single digit code is visible where it follows the nib size e.g. 4 for 1954, 8 for 1958 & 9 for 1959, whereas on other years it is on the bottom of the nib so hidden inside the section. There is a UK repair website selling replacement nibs where you can see all the date codes that are usually hidden e.g. 1953 is imprinted in full whereas 1955 & 1957 are marked RU5 & RU7 (not sure about 1956). Hope this helps.

 

P.S. Sheptonian-looks like you've got a Duofold cap + 1959 nib that's had a replacement Senior barrel. Filler unit could be off either as Duofold & Senior have different filler lengths-sac guard and bar about 70mm long on a Duofold (35mm guard + 35mm bar) & 75mm long on a Senior (40mm guard+ 35mm bar).

 

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4 hours ago, theredfalcon said:

P.S. Sheptonian-looks like you've got a Duofold cap + 1959 nib that's had a replacement Senior barrel. Filler unit could be off either as Duofold & Senior have different filler lengths-sac guard and bar about 70mm long on a Duofold (35mm guard + 35mm bar) & 75mm long on a Senior (40mm guard+ 35mm bar).

 

That's fascinating, theredfalcon - thanks for letting me know. 

 

I've not seen that many New Duofolds so wouldn't have joined those particular dots.  I had assumed simply given the barrel that there had been a nib replacement rather than the barrel not being original.  Now that you mention it here are a couple of photos showing the black pen's filler and that of a red Senior that I think illustrate what you have said. 

 

Thanks again.

125-FP (12).jpg

091-FP (7).jpg

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Sorry for sort of forgetting this thread, but to follow up on the question asked:

 

Yes, the wide band cap is longer than the narrow band cap. You can actually see this in my first photo. They're not lined up exactly, but the base of the caps are more-or-less in line and the wide band is a fair bit taller.

 

One of these two-the one with the wide band-I've been writing with quite a bit the past two days and it's been a pleasure.

 

The other, with the "N" nib, is quite flexible. It was sold to me, though, inexpensively(despite being nearly unused and the sac being clear) because of a hairline crack radiating out of the breather hole across the area above the left tine.

 

I sent the pen to Greg Minuskin, who is a wizard at repairing flex nib cracks. He's received it, actually found a second crack, and has given me an estimate to repair both cracks. I approved the estimate, and he's told me a 2-3 week turn-around. I'm looking forward to getting it back.

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