Seeking Advice From Members Re Parker 51

[Paddymelon]

Hello everyone,

I have never posted a message on any forum anywhere before so hope I am doing this right.

Can members in the know please guide me here.

I have a Rolled Gold Parker 51which was my Dads, and has not been used for 50 years at least, possibly longer. Please picture attached.

I am seeking to know something about this UK made pen which has a number 7 after MADE IN ENGLAND . Could that 7 mean it was made in 1957, which sounds about right. It also is stamped either 12ct or 2ct Rolled Gold ... very small and hard to read.

I am led to believe it is a rare pen and collectable and has some value.

Any advices on how to get it working again would be appreciated ... I am not doing anything until I get good counsel here. Thanks, Steve.

[pajaro]

You might try flushing it out with room temperature water. Put some water in a disposable cup and work the filler to clear out old ink. Then fill the pen with ink and write with it. This is all I have generally had to do with old 51s I have bought. Sometimes the process of clearing old ink takes several cycles with some soaking. Just try this first to see if it works before worrying about other problems or flushing with chemical products that someone will be along soon to recommend.

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

Congrats on getting your Dad's 51! I hope you cherish it and can get it working again! You might ask about it over in the Parker sub-Forum. Again Welcome!

[Chrissy]

Hello and welcome to FPN. ​

[ThomasB]

Hello and welcome from Baton Rouge, Louisiana...Enjoy your time here

[jar]

Welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell. A picture of the pen and it's filling system might help.

[Wahl]

[OCArt]

Welcome to our little corner of the universe from a pen user in San Diego.

[inkstainedruth]

Greetings from Pittsburgh!

Is your dad's pen an Aerometric filler or the older style 51 Vac (it's easy to tell the difference because the 51 Vacs have what's called a blind cap on the end of the barrel). If you have one, you can unscrew that and there will be a plastic plunger underneath. If it DOESN'T have the blind cap, you can unscrew the entire barrel and there will be a metal sleeve with a press bar around the sac. If you have one of those, you can further narrow the date period down to what it says on the sac sleeve to some extent. Additionally, there might be dots around the sides or bottom of the 7 on the barrel, which will tell you which quarter of the year the pen was made.

I'm guessing that the pen is actually from 1947, because sometime in the 50s Parker stopped doing the date codes (that's why it helps to know if you have an Aerometric model, because if the sac sleeve says "Use Superchrome Ink" as part of the text the pen is pre-1957 manufacture.

You can read all about Parker 51s here: www.parkercollector.com -- scroll down the main page sidebar and click on the link for Parker 51 (there is also a link in the side bar to a page IDing various models of Parkers by what they look like if you don't the model). I'm betting that the cap is probably 12K rolled gold, and it's just that the imprint has worn off.

If you go (as Pakman suggests) to the Parker sub-forum, there will be a pinned thread called something like "So You've Found Your First 51 in the Wild" which will give excellent instructions on how to flush your pen out (if it's that long sitting around it will likely take a few days). But if you have an Aerometric model 51 the odds are good that all you will need is to flush it out to get it working again (51 Vacs might need more work, and I strongly recommend you go to a pro for that). If it does need repairs, there are a number of people that I can recommend to do the work for you (although a number of the really good repair people often have a backlog).

I love Parker 51s! I think you are extremely lucky in your find (it might be more or less valuable depending on the barrel color -- some colors are less common than others). Not only because it's a Parker 51 (which is quite possibly the best fountain pen ever made by any company -- it was their flagship model for something like 20 years, and Parker stopped counting how many they made after 12 MILLION of them!) but also because it was your dad's. So I would keep it if I were you. Just because.

Let us know how it goes -- I hope you can get the pen working again. Oh, and to add what jar said about flushing: if you live where the water is hard (i.e., high mineral content) I strongly recommend that you use distilled water and not tap water, whether you're just using water or using a dilute ammonia solution (or, if you know your dad used a low pH ink like an iron gall ink, a dilute vinegar solution -- that information will be in the pinned thread I mentioned before.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[northstar]

Hello and welcome to FPN.

[mitto]

Greetings and welcome to FPN.

 

@ Ruth. The English/UK made aerometric 51s do not have any mention of ink usage (neither Superchrome nor Parker) on the sac guard. The 51 aero production in the UK started in 1950 and, hence, no 'press 6 times inscription on English 51s. The date coding on English 51s continued until late 1950s.

Edited August 1, 2018 by mitto

[inkstainedruth]

Greetings and welcome to FPN.

 

@ Ruth. The English/UK made aerometric 51s do not have any mention of ink usage (neither Superchrome nor Parker) on the sac guard. The 51 aero production in the UK started in 1950 and, hence, no 'press 6 times inscription on English 51s. The date coding on English 51s continued until late 1950s.

 

Okay, thanks for the info. I didn't know the the UK production was so different from the US production as far as what's said on them. So it could very well be a 1957 pen after all.

I learn something new every time I come on here! Now I'm going to have to take a another look at my UK made 51 (although it's definitely a 51 Vac).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Henricum_Tropen]

Hello and welcome to FPN, from Cape Town, South Africa.

[Erik Dalton]

Welcome and congratulations on acquiring your grandfathers pen.

Soak it well fill with ink and enjoy it. I wouldn’t get too hung up on value and rareness. It’s rare for even the most meticulously refurbished and new sac installed to sell for over $200.00. Sentimental value here might just be higher value.

That said. Photos would give us a better idea of the pen that you have.

Enjoy your Parker 51.