Help identifying a vintage Parker Pen please.

[British99]

Greetings all.

 

This is my second post on this lovely forum, been a longtime lurker, enjoying and learning what I can as a hobbyist!

 

I require some help identifying an older Parker Ball pen I've recently inherited. 

 

What I believe i know about the pen; 

 

It has the "Parker" engraving (although faded) around the caps band and has the PPCO marking on a plate on the barrel - indicating it was produced in the Canadian company. It also has a few other hallmarking's on the barrel that I cannot make out either due to having inexperienced eyes or due to fading over the years. It also has a hallmark (or scratch?) on the band of the cap. it has no other visible hallmarks apart from the ones pictured. It also has a rather short arrow including a opal colour gem/stone at the top of the cap.

 

Any help identifying, approx. year and model would be most helpful and appreciated. 

 

If I can help with additional photos or information please feel free to ask.

 

Many thanks for reading!

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by British99
Forgot to add a thank you for reading at the end of the post.

[inkstainedruth]

Sorry, I don't know a lot about their ballpoints.  But there's an article on Parkercollector.com that has all sorts of information about the different nib codes and date codes (and I think also possibly stuff like the markings for gold and silver content).  That site would be your best place to start, since there's so much information about Parkers in general.

Hope this helps.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[British99]

15 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Sorry, I don't know a lot about their ballpoints.  But there's an article on Parkercollector.com that has all sorts of information about the different nib codes and date codes (and I think also possibly stuff like the markings for gold and silver content).  That site would be your best place to start, since there's so much information about Parkers in general.

Hope this helps.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Hi Ruth.

 

This is very helpful thank you, I've been using both PenHero (wonderful website) and older previous forum posts on here to gather as much info as I can, I'll have a look at Parker Collector now. 

 

Many thanks for the help and information.  

[joss]

The wavy line pattern and the hallmark on the barrel suggest that your ballpoint is a solid gold Parker 51. The solid gold model was called "Presidential". There should also be a hallmark on the cap lip and the washer ring of the clip.

 

"P.P. & Co" refers to "Payton, Pepper & Co" which was a Birmingham (England) based jewellery manufacturer that was officially allowed to stamp these hallmarks in any kind of solid gold or silver items.

The "P.P. & Co" barrel imprint is likely followed by "9 375" (meaning 9 Carat solid gold) and also a letter that refers to the date when the stamp was placed.

 

This solid gold ballpoint is obviously is very valuable. The Parker 51 Presidential that was made in the USA was even more valuable as it was made from 14 Carat solid gold.

 

 

[British99]

On 4/19/2022 at 7:19 PM, joss said:

The wavy line pattern and the hallmark on the barrel suggest that your ballpoint is a solid gold Parker 51. The solid gold model was called "Presidential". There should also be a hallmark on the cap lip and the washer ring of the clip.

 

"P.P. & Co" refers to "Payton, Pepper & Co" which was a Birmingham (England) based jewellery manufacturer that was officially allowed to stamp these hallmarks in any kind of solid gold or silver items.

The "P.P. & Co" barrel imprint is likely followed by "9 375" (meaning 9 Carat solid gold) and also a letter that refers to the date when the stamp was placed.

 

This solid gold ballpoint is obviously is very valuable. The Parker 51 Presidential that was made in the USA was even more valuable as it was made from 14 Carat solid gold.

 

 

 

Hi Joss! That's very helpful.

 

Thank you for the input and your advice/ID on the pen, it's much appreciated!

 

I'll try to date it through the Assay stamp but do you know when these pens were produced from and till? 

 

Many tanks again for the help and knowledge. 

[pen lady]

Also check out www.parkerpens.net. There is a ''which model is my pen'' button that might be helpful.  One thing to add if you didn't already know,  current Parker ballpoint refills still work in vintage pens.  Good on you Parker!

[FarmBoy]

The Jotter was introduced in 1954. 
 

Looks English. 

[welch]

The clip and push-down cap mark this as a Parker 51 ballpoint. The Parker 45 ballpoint worked the same way, but had the P-45 clip. Must have been made after 1954, as FarmBoy notes, because that's when Parker finally perfected its T-ball refill and released the first Jotter.

 

This is a very classy P-51 ballpoint.

[joss]

2 hours ago, British99 said:

I'll try to date it through the Assay stamp but do you know when these pens were produced from and till?

 

The exact production period of the Parker 51 "Presidential" in solid gold is not known to me but the Parker 51 Jotter ballpoint was indeed introduced in 1954 so your pen can be anything between 1954 and the early 1970s.

 

I have seen just two P51 Presidential pens and they had a hallmark "P.P. & Co / 9 375 / g / ⌂" and "P.P. & Co / 9 375 / i / ⌂" on the barrel. I did not find a relevant (eg mid 20th century) date for the "g" or "i" code in the Birmingham Assay Office files but Payton, Pepper & Co apparently also had a London branch and the date code "g" and "i" for the London Assay Office refer to 1962 and 1964 respectively.

[inkstainedruth]

12 hours ago, pen lady said:

Also check out www.parkerpens.net. There is a ''which model is my pen'' button that might be helpful.  One thing to add if you didn't already know,  current Parker ballpoint refills still work in vintage pens.  Good on you Parker!

I think that's the same site as parkercollector.com but under a different URL.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth