1967 black 45 Coronet?

[Nethermark]

I recently purchased a black Parker 45 Coronet. As I understand from the parker45pens and the parkerpens sites, the 45 Coronet was produced from 1967 onward. Both sites mention that at the introduction in 1967 the only colors were red, green and grey, with blue, brown and black added to the range in 1970.

 

However, my black 45 Coronet came in a box including a loss insurance registration form saying “for Parker 45 pens purchased during 1967”.On the box it says “45 Coronet pen, black-X-fine, $6,95”

I don’t know what the evidence is for black 45 Coronets first appearing in 1970 – I can’t find catalogues from this period – but this might imply, the black version was introduced earlier. It might of course also be an old warranty included in the box, but that would be very sloppy from the dealer, at it says explicitly on the form that “only pens registered during 1967 may be registered”

 

Does anybody have some knowledge that the black version might be produced before 1970?

 

[FarmBoy]

Parker retailers seem to have used boxes and inserts until their stock was depleted.  Examples of 51s, 75s, 45s, etc in wrong boxes as new old stock pens are not so uncommon.

 

All this has no bearing on when Parker released the Black Cornet.

[Number99]

Had not thought about it.

This is just an informational piece.

Of my 10 coronet FPs, 9 are conical tassie, including the two black ones, and only one green coronet FP has a disc-type cap-top tassie.

There is one blue and one gray, and two of each of the other colors.

Generally speaking, the conical cap-top Tassie is a product of the 1960s, but my five coronet FPs have timeline inconsistencies or biases.

 

What shape is the Cap-Top Tassie on your pen? Do you have date information printed on the box?

 

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Number99
I changed the wording.

[Nethermark]

Thanks for the replies!

13 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

Parker retailers seem to have used boxes and inserts until their stock was depleted

 

10 hours ago, Number99 said:

Do you have date information printed on the box?

At least the box seems to be the correct one, saying it's a black 45 Coronet with an X-fine nib, which matches the pen. Otherwise, no indication of a date on the box or pen (it does say No. 126/226 on the back of the box):

 

 

It's of course always possible that the insert is an old one and that was also my first thought. But on the other hand, as I mentioned in the original post, that seems rather sloppy. 

 

I imagine that Parker supplies the pens in a matching box with a filling instruction matching the pen, but that the registration forms are supplied separately, as one can’t be sure, the pen is sold the year it’s supplied to the dealer. But I also assume, the dealer gets an ample supply of these registration forms, as it probably is cheaper to oversupply than to send the forms more often (this of course is speculation from my part). In that case, I find it a bit strange, a dealer inserts an old form, when it says explicitly on the form that it’s only for pens purchased in 1967.

 

11 hours ago, Number99 said:

What shape is the Cap-Top Tassie on your pen?

It's conical:

 

 

But I understand from Parker45pens that the shift to a dimpled tassie is made around 1970. If the black Coronet is introduced in 1970, it could be both a conical or a dimpled tassie. 

 

What I’m really looking after is some evidence of the timeline of the 45 Coronet. As said, I can't find catalogues from this period, nor adds that show when the different colors were introduced. 

[Number99]

4 hours ago, Nethermark said:

I understand from Parker45pens that the shift to a dimpled tassie is made around 1970. If the black Coronet is introduced in 1970, it could be both a conical or a dimpled tassie. 

I thought so too. But I also thought it was a curious maldistribution. I have no conclusive evidence, but now that you have raised it, I agree and share all of your doubts.

 

4 hours ago, Nethermark said:

it does say No. 126/226 on the back of the box

Someone may be able to analogize the date of manufacture from the box number, I will keep an eye on your future posts on this thread.

 

4 hours ago, Nethermark said:

What I’m really looking after is some evidence of the timeline of the 45 Coronet. As said, I can't find catalogues from this period, nor adds that show when the different colors were introduced.

I agree with you on that too, I haven't seen anyone else present it either.

 

By the way, I ask out of curiosity.

I saw a similar lost insurance statement from the same period elsewhere. The certificate mentioned something about a "form" that had to be sent in for registration. Is there such a thing? (That pen appears to be NOS, but perchance someone has exercised that pen's insurance registration, I just want to know.)

Or is it a system that sends it in its entirety for registration?

 

P.S.

I have never seen a coronet with a dimple type cap top tassie. Only conical and disc type. Maybe I am unlucky, but I am wondering about that too.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Number99

[joss]

It would indeed be interesting to know the source of the differential release of the six Coronet colours. I think that Tony Fischier from ParkerPens.net had access to Parker's internal documents so I guess he knows.

 

I did not find the Coronet in the few 1967-1970 catalogs that I have but the Parker Archive Catalog, available in the PCA library, mentions a 45 Coronet in the colours Blue, Red and Brown with an accompanying date of "1967- " (see catalog page 61). Black or Green or Grey is not mentioned in the list (or I did not find it) but it indicates that at least the Blue and Brown Coronet are earlier than 1970.

There is also this German ad showing all 6 Coronet colours and according to the seller the ad is from 1969. That is not 1967 but it is also not 1970.

 

It seems that the registration/insurance form was not uncommon for 1960s Parker 45 and P21 pens, according to the paperwork included in this ebay sale and also this one.

 

 

 

[Number99]

21 minutes ago, joss said:

It would indeed be interesting to know the source of the differential release of the six Coronet colours. I think that Tony Fischier from ParkerPens.net had access to Parker's internal documents so I guess he knows.

 

I did not find the Coronet in the few 1967-1970 catalogs that I have but the Parker Archive Catalog, available in the PCA library, mentions a 45 Coronet in the colours Blue, Red and Brown with an accompanying date of "1967- " (see catalog page 61). Black or Green or Grey is not mentioned in the list (or I did not find it) but it indicates that at least the Blue and Brown Coronet are earlier than 1970.

There is also this German ad showing all 6 Coronet colours and according to the seller the ad is from 1969. That is not 1967 but it is also not 1970.

 

It seems that the registration/insurance form was not uncommon for 1960s Parker 45 and P21 pens, according to the paperwork included in this ebay sale and also this one.

 

 

 

Thank you！

My long-standing question about the cap-top tassie type bias in my coronet was resolved in just one hour.

 

[Nethermark]

3 hours ago, joss said:

It would indeed be interesting to know the source of the differential release of the six Coronet colours. I think that Tony Fischier from ParkerPens.net had access to Parker's internal documents so I guess he knows.

 

I did not find the Coronet in the few 1967-1970 catalogs that I have but the Parker Archive Catalog, available in the PCA library, mentions a 45 Coronet in the colours Blue, Red and Brown with an accompanying date of "1967- " (see catalog page 61). Black or Green or Grey is not mentioned in the list (or I did not find it) but it indicates that at least the Blue and Brown Coronet are earlier than 1970.

There is also this German ad showing all 6 Coronet colours and according to the seller the ad is from 1969. That is not 1967 but it is also not 1970.

 

It seems that the registration/insurance form was not uncommon for 1960s Parker 45 and P21 pens, according to the paperwork included in this ebay sale and also this one.

Thank you very much for this very informative and well researched post! I had been at the PCA library to look for catalogues, but didn't know about the Parker Archive Catalog, so many thanks for that reference. And great finds on eBay too.

 

I've been looking again at the Parker45pens website and ended up on the Dating a pen page. That directed me to where I should look for indications of a date. As in Example 1 on that page, the filling instructions on my black 45 Coronet have a date of 9-66, while the loss insurance registration form has a date of 11-66. It makes me think it more and more likely that the black Coronet was introduced in 1967. But I can't explain, it isn't on the Parker Arcive Catalog (and I've been over it several times now)

 

To be completely fair: Tony Fischier doesn't say that the black 45 Coronet first was produced in 1970, but only says that it came later than the first three pens. Parker45pens mentions the black version first being introduced in 1970.

 

 

[Nethermark]

5 hours ago, Number99 said:

I saw a similar lost insurance statement from the same period elsewhere. The certificate mentioned something about a "form" that had to be sent in for registration. Is there such a thing? (That pen appears to be NOS, but perchance someone has exercised that pen's insurance registration, I just want to know.)

Or is it a system that sends it in its entirety for registration?

The from consists of two parts: a registration form that has to be send in to Parker and a Loss Claim Form that should first be send in when the pen is lost

 

[Number99]

15 hours ago, Nethermark said:

The from consists of two parts: a registration form that has to be send in to Parker and a Loss Claim Form that should first be send in when the pen is lost

 

Thanks for elaborating on this.

I think it was advantageous to have the insurance policy and the pen manual and the printing date close together.

There are many models that are not listed in the Parker archive catalog. I think these appendices are sufficient supporting material for your theory.

 

16 hours ago, Nethermark said:

Tony Fischier doesn't say that the black 45 Coronet first was produced in 1970, but only says that it came later than the first three pens. 

 

20 hours ago, joss said:

I think that Tony Fischier from ParkerPens.net had access to Parker's internal documents so I guess he knows.

This is just my personal impression.

I don't think there should be any discrepancy between the dating labeled 1967-1970 under the image of the six-color coronet on parkerpens.net and his description on the same page, so I think it is possible to interpret the other three colors as having been launched at some other time in 1967. The German advertisements are supporting documentation for this.

For me, the time periods shown below these images make the most sense.

 

I like the Parker 45, but I especially like the Coronet because it feels good in the hand, is light, and has a warmth to it that is not persistently cold like the 45 Flighter.

😁

 

Edited October 18, 2023 by Number99
I changed the wording.

[joss]

I found more evidence that the 6 colours were all available before 1970. This is a sheet from a Parker "Sales Help" facsimile brochure, dated August 1968, that mentions "six striking colours" for the Coronet:

 

 

 

[Nethermark]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:08 AM, joss said:

 

I found more evidence that the 6 colours were all available before 1970. This is a sheet from a Parker "Sales Help" facsimile brochure, dated August 1968, that mentions "six striking colours" for the Coronet:

 

That is a really great find! Thank you for all your effort on determining the introduction date for the Coronets!

 

This makes it even more likely, all 6 colours of the Coronet were available in 1967 already. 
 

Another interesting detail is, that the price on the box of my black Coronet is $ 6.95, while the brochure says $ 7.50