You've Got Your First Found In The Wild Parker 51 In Your Hand, Now What?

[TrueBlue719]

3 hours ago, crescentfiller said:

That is an exceptionally rare pencil and probably worth a whole lot more than you paid.....

That's music to my ears! it's in exceptional condition, too, so I think I found a diamond in the rough!  I'll look into what people have it priced for around the internet.

 

2 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

What cap?

It has a metal cap with a silver clip and a pearl-colored cap jewel. I attached a couple pictures as well for reference

[Glenn-SC]

Deleted

[Armo]

20 hours ago, Glenn-SC said:

You have a Vac “51” date marked as 1949?  I thought that Parker had switched to the Aerometric filler in 1948?

I also thought that Parker had stopped using the “blue diamond” clip on the cap in 1947 and was using the non-BD cap clips in 1948?

 

They are what they are. Caps and nibs get swopped around and replaced also neither are American so timelines are different. I think the grey one is in fact much later with an earlier cap and nib and the black one is only dated by the nib. Just as live, nothing is ever straight forward.

[Glenn-SC]

33 minutes ago, Armo said:

They are what they are. Caps and nibs get swopped around and replaced also neither are American so timelines are different. I think the grey one is in fact much later with an earlier cap and nib and the black one is only dated by the nib. Just as live, nothing is ever straight forward.

So, what “dates” a pen; the cap, the nib, the barrel, or all three?   If all three components agree and have the same “date”, it can be inferred (but not positively proven, unless the pen is somehow proven to be unaltered as pens parts were not serialized) that that is the “date” of the pen’s manufacture.  (Even a frankenpen can be assembled out of parts made in the same year.). If the “dates” don’t match then the strongest date (IMHO) would be the barrel date (as the other components are more easily swapped).

[crescentfiller]

2 hours ago, Armo said:

Caps and nibs get swopped around and replaced

Sure, but where will you find spare parts for a 1939 Parker 51 pencil, huh?

[FarmBoy]

1 hour ago, crescentfiller said:

Sure, but where will you find spare parts for a 1939 Parker 51 pencil, huh?

The pencil shown is not from 1939. 
 

[Glenn-SC]

2 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

The pencil shown is not from 1939. 
 

That was the basis of my deleted post above, but Farmboy put it more succinctly than I could. 

[TrueBlue719]

6 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

The pencil shown is not from 1939. 
 

Upon further research, the piece is most likely from 1949.  I pulled the data on my original post from my spreadsheet which may have had a typo on it (3&4 are close on the keyboard and i made the sheet in one sitting). The date code on the barrel is three dots surrounding the number 9 if that helps.  No ill will towards anyone is intended

 

[TrueBlue719]

On 3/8/2023 at 10:23 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Nice score on that 51 Vac!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Thank you Ruth! I just noticed your reply looking back on the forum!

[crescentfiller]

6 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

The pencil shown is not from 1939. 
 

I guess it's not as rare or as valuable as it would have been then......

[irrigger]

This should shed light on the dating of the pencil.

 

Pencils (parker51.com)

[TrueBlue719]

4 minutes ago, irrigger said:

This should shed light on the dating of the pencil.

 

Pencils (parker51.com)

I just came from there actually. Tim's website is an amazing resource for 51 research!

[mitto]

Don't snub an authority (like FarmBoy) on 51 saying he is making an "assuming statement" 

[TrueBlue719]

11 hours ago, mitto said:

Don't snub an authority (like FarmBoy) on 51 saying he is making an "assuming statement" 

That statement was redacted and changed upon further investigation.  FarmBoy and I had a conversation clarifying the matter as well.

[JFox22]

Hello - Just found a Parker 51 during an estate move and wondering if anyone can help insight on year of model?

 

Cap clip PARKER arrow - From what I have been able to find on the pen so far, it's marked on cap PARKER "51" 1/10 12 CT. R. GOLD - On the black pen body after some inspection with magnification reads "MADE IN ENGLAND", while the inside ink refill area marked ..."FIRMLY 4 TIMES"..... A link for all pics close up can be found here: https://ibb.co/album/N9jMc7

 

Thanks for any help or info on this item, Regards

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by JFox22

[TrueBlue719]

This is the resource I rely on for dating purposes (https://parkerpens.net/codekey.html). You should be able to find a date code just below the cap on the barrel. Post a pic if you have trouble decoding it!  

[JFox22]

17 minutes ago, TrueBlue719 said:

 You should be able to find a date code just below the cap on the barrel. Post a pic if you have trouble decoding it!  

Yes thank - I've gone over that resource and still can't seem to figure it out, it seems that the date marking would be near where the "MADE IN ENGLAND" mark is made, trouble is that this is extremely faint to make out, I was barely able to do so with my magnification loupe, it may have been worn away.

 

If that marking is unavailable, is there any other indicators to look for that might better point toward a date on this? I've combed through some of the other similar resources and still guessing, my tell from the clip style is that it's pre-48 ?

 

Pic below, had to make out the "MADE IN ENGLAND" individually in high light - I'll check under higher mag to see if I can see any other numeral markings and report back

Edited March 17, 2023 by JFox22

[FarmBoy]

Wrong clip for a 51. 

[JFox22]

1 hour ago, FarmBoy said:

Wrong clip for a 51. 

Guess it's a Parker "Frankenstein" 51... any guess on origin of said above clip if it's not from a 51? Cheers

[Paul-in-SF]

Both the clip and the jewel might have been replaced on the cap at some point, probably during a repair (the cap appears to have had an active life). 

 

But it's the wrong kind of cap for an aerometric filler, as the transition from vacumatic to aerometric fillers coincided (more or less) with the transition to the updated "art deco" non-split arrow clip. Also gold-filled caps were a lot less common with aerometric-filler 51's. There were probably some transition cases of early aerometric bodies with the older caps, but statistically more likely is that the cap was swapped in at some point, a very common occurrence with 51's. 

 

Lacking a date code on the barrel, and not relying on the cap for date clues because it probably didn't belong to the barrel originally, it would be difficult to narrow the date down very much on the barrel. Since it was made in England, that might also affect dating -- I don't know if the filler-type transition took place later in England or about the same time as in the US. So at the earliest maybe 1948, latest probably some time in the early 60's.