Sonnet Year Of Manufacture

[Ted F]

A curious thing has happened. This year I purchased two brand new Parker Sonnets from two very different retail outlets. The date codes on each of the Sonnets indicate that one was made in the 1st quarter of 1993 (IIIL) and the other was made in the 2nd quarter of 1993 (IIL). It seems to be a very strange coincidence that two 'new' pens from two very different retailers would each be over 20 years old. Actually, I'm not complaining because they are both very nice pens.

 

Since writing this I just looked at parkerpen.net where there is a history of Sonnets. In this he mentions that the Sonnet was introduced in 1994. There are other date codes that use the L but they're in a difference sequence. For example, L.III and L.II for 2003. Below is a photo of my two caps. Am I understanding this date thing properly?

Edited November 28, 2013 by Ted F

[Florida Blue]

They are probably from 2013.

 

The dates codes spell out "QUALITY PEN" and the sequence begins again every 10 years.

 

The date code for 2010 was Q, so 2011 would be U, 2012 would be A and 2013 would be L.

 

They are in the Sonnet Refresh design (2007-present) so they can't be 93 or 03.

 

Congrats on your new Sonnets! They are good pens.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Florida Blue

[Ted F]

Florida Blue: Thank you for the information. I had a strong feeling I was misinterpreting something.

[Jay Bar]

I was recently given a Parker Sonnet and on it the date code is IIIL just like one of the pens in the photo above. According to ParkerPens.net on their date code page this means it is from 1993, the initial year of the Sonnet.

 

http://parkerpens.net/codekey.html

[ceejaybee]

They're from 2013, the info on parkerpens.net is incorrect - the datecodes for 2010-2019 are the same as those used for 1990-1999 hence the confusion

[Matlock]

Corrected info:

 

2010 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q (change)
2011 - IIIU IIU IU U

2012 - IIIA IIA IA A

2013 - IIIL IIL IL L

2014 - IIII III II I

2015 – IIIT IIT IT T

[mitto]

 

 

 

They're from 2013, the info on parkerpens.net is incorrect - the datecodes for 2010-2019 are the same as those used for 1990-1999 hence the confusion

 

Corrected info:

 

2010 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q (change)

2011 - IIIU IIU IU U

2012 - IIIA IIA IA A

2013 - IIIL IIL IL L

2014 - IIII III II I

2015 – IIIT IIT IT T

Correct. The info on parkerpens.net is out of date.

Edited February 27, 2015 by mitto

[mazinger55]

there are some list of the codes from 2015 to 2024?

[baz666]

 

The Parker dating system Uses the words "QUALITY PEN", one letter per year, followed by a quarter marker, allowing for dating within a ten-year span.
This dating system was introduced in the U.S. in 1979.

The quarter marker changed in 1988 from a trailing E, C, L, I, to a leading III, II, I, or nothing (last quarter) according to the table below.
In 2000 the code again underwent a small change when the quarter switched sides with the year and there was a dot between them "Q . III"
---------------------------------
Redundant date codes  1970  QE QC QL QI   

before codes started     1971  UE UC UL UI   
                                        1972  AE AC AL AI   

                                        1973  LE LC LL LI     
                                        1974  IE IC IL II
                                        1975  TE TC TL TI
                                        1976  YE YC YL YI
                                        1977  PE PC PL PI
                                        1978  EE EC EL EI

 

1979  NE NC.....NL NI     Date coding begins in the U.S.
1980 - QE QC QL QI       Date coding begins in the UK and France.
1981 - UE UC UL UI
1982 - AE AC AL AI
1983 - LE LC LL LI
1984 - IE IC IL II
1985 - TE TC TL TI
1986 - YE YC YL YI
1987 - PE PC PL PI

 

1988 - IIIE IIE IE E    (format change)
1989 - IIIN IIN IN N
1990 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q
1991 - IIIU IIU IU U
1992 - IIIA IIA IA A
1993 - IIIL IIL IL L
1994 - IIII III II I
1995 - IIIT IIT IT T
1996 - IIIY IIY IY Y
1997 - IIIP IIP IP P
1998 - IIIE IIE IE E
1999 - IIIN IIN IN N

 

2000 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q.   (format change)
2001 - U.III U.II U.I U.
2002 - A.III A.II A.I A.
2003 - L.III L.II L.I L.
2004 - I.III  I.II  I.I  I.
2005 - T.III T.II T.I T.
2006 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y.
2007 - P.III P.II P.I P.
2008 - E.III E.II E.I E.
2009 - N.III N.II N.I N.

 

2010 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q    (format change)
2011 - IIIU IIU IU U
2012 - IIIA IIA IA A
2013 - IIIL IIL IL L
2014 - IIII III II I
2015 - IIIT IIT IT T
2016 - IIIY IIY IY Y
2017 - IIIP IIP IP P
2018 - IIIE IIE IE E
2019 - IIIN IIN IN N

2020 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q.   (format change)
2021 - U.III U.II U.I U.
2022 - A.III A.II A.I A.
2023 - L.III L.II L.I L.
2024 - I.III. I.II. I.I. I.
2025 - T.III T.II T.I T.
2026 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y.
2027 - P.III P.II P.I P.
2028 - E.III E.II E.I E.
2029 - N.III N.II N.I N.

 

If the pen has an "I-" prefix before the date code, it indicates the pen was made in India by Luxor.

[mazinger55]

11 hours ago, baz666 said:

 

The Parker dating system Uses the words "QUALITY PEN", one letter per year, followed by a quarter marker, allowing for dating within a ten-year span.
This dating system was introduced in the U.S. in 1979.

The quarter marker changed in 1988 from a trailing E, C, L, I, to a leading III, II, I, or nothing (last quarter) according to the table below.
In 2000 the code again underwent a small change when the quarter switched sides with the year and there was a dot between them "Q . III"
---------------------------------
Redundant date codes  1970  QE QC QL QI   

before codes started     1971  UE UC UL UI   
                                        1972  AE AC AL AI   

                                        1973  LE LC LL LI     
                                        1974  IE IC IL II
                                        1975  TE TC TL TI
                                        1976  YE YC YL YI
                                        1977  PE PC PL PI
                                        1978  EE EC EL EI

 

1979  NE NC.....NL NI     Date coding begins in the U.S.
1980 - QE QC QL QI       Date coding begins in the UK and France.
1981 - UE UC UL UI
1982 - AE AC AL AI
1983 - LE LC LL LI
1984 - IE IC IL II
1985 - TE TC TL TI
1986 - YE YC YL YI
1987 - PE PC PL PI

 

1988 - IIIE IIE IE E    (format change)
1989 - IIIN IIN IN N
1990 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q
1991 - IIIU IIU IU U
1992 - IIIA IIA IA A
1993 - IIIL IIL IL L
1994 - IIII III II I
1995 - IIIT IIT IT T
1996 - IIIY IIY IY Y
1997 - IIIP IIP IP P
1998 - IIIE IIE IE E
1999 - IIIN IIN IN N

 

2000 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q.   (format change)
2001 - U.III U.II U.I U.
2002 - A.III A.II A.I A.
2003 - L.III L.II L.I L.
2004 - I.III  I.II  I.I  I.
2005 - T.III T.II T.I T.
2006 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y.
2007 - P.III P.II P.I P.
2008 - E.III E.II E.I E.
2009 - N.III N.II N.I N.

 

2010 - IIIQ IIQ IQ Q    (format change)
2011 - IIIU IIU IU U
2012 - IIIA IIA IA A
2013 - IIIL IIL IL L
2014 - IIII III II I
2015 - IIIT IIT IT T
2016 - IIIY IIY IY Y
2017 - IIIP IIP IP P
2018 - IIIE IIE IE E
2019 - IIIN IIN IN N

2020 - Q.III Q.II Q.I Q.   (format change)
2021 - U.III U.II U.I U.
2022 - A.III A.II A.I A.
2023 - L.III L.II L.I L.
2024 - I.III. I.II. I.I. I.
2025 - T.III T.II T.I T.
2026 - Y.III Y.II Y.I Y.
2027 - P.III P.II P.I P.
2028 - E.III E.II E.I E.
2029 - N.III N.II N.I N.

 

If the pen has an "I-" prefix before the date code, it indicates the pen was made in India by Luxor.

wow, a lot of information , thanks , what source you use ?