Help me identify my Parker "51" Aerometric's Origin and Date.

[samba]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a Parker '51' Black Aerometric Fountain Pen. The pen is in pristine condition. But I found no 'date code' or 'country name' mentioned either on the cap or on the pen. I asked the seller. But he had no clue. This pen has some features:

1. The cap imprint says '1/10 12 ct. R. Gold'

2. The 'vent hole' is located on the side of the barrel.

3. The sac protector has no country name engraved.

I have a Midnight Blue USA Parker 51 in which 'Made in USA' is clearly engraved on the sac protector and cap. One interesting thing I noticed is that the Midnight Blue USA barrel does not fit in this Black 51, but the Black barrel does fit in the USA 51. This is really mind-boggling! 

Please check all the photos and let me help.

Thank you

[inkstainedruth]

Does it say on the filler how many times to press the bar?  I think I remember reading on parkercollector.com that you can narrow down the time frame somewhat by whether it says to press six times or four times (but don't recall offhand when that change was made).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mercian]

6 hours ago, samba said:

Hi All,

I recently purchased a Parker '51' Black Aerometric Fountain Pen. The pen is in pristine condition. But I found no 'date code' or 'country name' mentioned either on the cap or on the pen. I asked the seller. But he had no clue. This pen has some features:

1. The cap imprint says '1/10 12 ct. R. Gold'

2. The 'vent hole' is located on the side of the barrel.

3. The sac protector has no country name engraved.

Hi Samba,
I have two “51”s, both of which were ‘MADE IN ENGLAND’, in 1954.

The sac protectors on my pens match the one on yours - no country of manufacture stated, black plastic cap on the end,, and have “Press ribbed bar 4 times” stamped on them.

 

My English “51”s have “MADE IN ENGLAND” (and their production-date code) stamped on the outside of the plastic barrel, up near the clutch ring.
But this may have worn off if the pen has been handled a lot.
Traces of the country-of-origin stamping may still be visible there if you look at that area with a jeweller’s loupe, and shine a bright light at it from a low angle from the side.

 

That said, my pens both have the ‘vent hole’ at the end of the barrel, and other members have told me that they have never seen ‘vent hole’ in the side of the barrel of any ”51” that was made at Newhaven (in England) - which would suggest that your pen was made at Janesville (in America).

 

According to…
https://parker51.com/index.php/education/51-chronology/

…the date codes stopped being stamped on the barrels after 1952.
Perhaps Parker also stopped stamping “MADE IN USA” into the plastic barrels at that time? 🤷‍♂️

That page also says that:

• the breather hole was moved to the side of the body in 1960, and;
• the sac protector sleeve no longer had that black plastic end cap after 1965.

 

As such, I would guess that your “51” was made at Janesville in the USA, some time between 1960 and 1965.

But, other members know more than I do, and may be able to share more information with you, and/or give you a better answer.

 

Whenever (& wherever) it was made, your pen is an excellent example of the “51”, and it should give you many, many years of reliable service. And, I hope, joy 👍

 

Slàinte,
M.

[thx1138]

If I had to guess from the nib i would say US made. The US nibs tend to be much finer than the English nibs.

 

English pens are almost always marked on the top of the barrel with England. 

 

Both of these are only circumstantial evidence, they are only suggestive of origin.  Taken with the vent hole comment above USA seems the likely place of manufacture. 

 

Still, you have a lovely pen (especially if you like fine nibs) and will easily get 50 or more years of use from it.

[samba]

18 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Does it say on the filler how many times to press the bar?  I think I remember reading on parkercollector.com that you can narrow down the time frame somewhat by whether it says to press six times or four times (but don't recall offhand when that change was made).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Thank you for your response. The sac protector says "4 TIMES". Please see the photos.

[samba]

17 hours ago, Mercian said:

Hi Samba,
I have two “51”s, both of which were ‘MADE IN ENGLAND’, in 1954.

The sac protectors on my pens match the one on yours - no country of manufacture stated, black plastic cap on the end,, and have “Press ribbed bar 4 times” stamped on them.

 

My English “51”s have “MADE IN ENGLAND” (and their production-date code) stamped on the outside of the plastic barrel, up near the clutch ring.
But this may have worn off if the pen has been handled a lot.
Traces of the country-of-origin stamping may still be visible there if you look at that area with a jeweller’s loupe, and shine a bright light at it from a low angle from the side.

 

That said, my pens both have the ‘vent hole’ at the end of the barrel, and other members have told me that they have never seen ‘vent hole’ in the side of the barrel of any ”51” that was made at Newhaven (in England) - which would suggest that your pen was made at Janesville (in America).

 

According to…
https://parker51.com/index.php/education/51-chronology/

…the date codes stopped being stamped on the barrels after 1952.
Perhaps Parker also stopped stamping “MADE IN USA” into the plastic barrels at that time? 🤷‍♂️

That page also says that:

• the breather hole was moved to the side of the body in 1960, and;
• the sac protector sleeve no longer had that black plastic end cap after 1965.

 

As such, I would guess that your “51” was made at Janesville in the USA, some time between 1960 and 1965.

But, other members know more than I do, and may be able to share more information with you, and/or give you a better answer.

 

Whenever (& wherever) it was made, your pen is an excellent example of the “51”, and it should give you many, many years of reliable service. And, I hope, joy 👍

 

Slàinte,
M.

Thank you for your response. I am posting some more photos of both of my Parker '51's (Midnight Blue-USA '51' and this newly purchased Black '51' one side by side) for your perusal. I think it will be helpful.

[Armo]

The cap sounds like it is English. Rolled gold is English terminology, gold fill is American. The barrel could well be American as I have never seen a side vent on an English pen, they may exist but I haven't seen one.

[Mercian]

6 hours ago, Armo said:

The barrel could well be American as I have never seen a side vent on an English pen

 

Ooh, yes
Perhaps a previous owner cracked the barrel of his English-made pen, and so bought an American-made barrel to put on to it?

[samba]

14 hours ago, Mercian said:

 

Ooh, yes
Perhaps a previous owner cracked the barrel of his English-made pen, and so bought an American-made barrel to put on to it?

I think the puzzle is not so easy.

My USA '51' Barrel (Midnight Blue) does not fit properly in this Black '51'. Though an UK barrel (Burgundy), which I borrowed from my friend, surprisingly fits properly. Now what conclusion should we draw from this experiment? Please see the photos attached.

[Mercian]

6 hours ago, samba said:

I think the puzzle is not so easy.

My USA '51' Barrel (Midnight Blue) does not fit properly in this Black '51'. Though an UK barrel (Burgundy), which I borrowed from my friend, surprisingly fits properly. Now what conclusion should we draw from this experiment? Please see the photos attached.

 

There was a thread recently in which the same problem/phenomenon was discussed…

It seems that some "51" barrels won't fit on to all "51"s, while other barrels seem perfectly happy being switched between different pens 🤷‍♂️

 

I will see if I can find the other thread…

 

Edit to Add:

Found it now!
Here it is:

Slàinte,
M.

[hari317]

On 10/4/2024 at 6:33 PM, samba said:

'1/10 12 ct. R. Gold'

English cap. USA ones would have said Gold Filled.

 

I faced similar issues switching barrels between Flighters and Lucite and made that topic. Then I found an insignia barrel that did fit.  I feel the issues are due to tolerance swings. The connector threads are oversized and the barrel threads undersized so the pieces wont screw fully. I wouldn't force it... 

[Sheptonian]

11 hours ago, hari317 said:

English cap. USA ones would have said Gold Filled.

 

I faced similar issues switching barrels between Flighters and Lucite and made that topic. Then I found an insignia barrel that did fit.  I feel the issues are due to tolerance swings. The connector threads are oversized and the barrel threads undersized so the pieces wont screw fully. I wouldn't force it... 

 

Also I seem to recall reading somewhere that the thread profile changed over time so relative age might be a consideration.

 

As for the breather hole in the barrel, like others on here I have only ever seen those at the bottom of the barrel on English P51s. Looking back I have seen somewhere around  three dozen Newhaven P51 Aerometrics which is, of course, statistically insignificant given the large number of the pens that must have been manufactured in the UK. 

[mitto]

English filler shroud.

 

The USA filler shroud would say about :

1) The usage of ink in the pen. Either Superchrome or Parker. 

2) The country of origin ie saying 'Made in USA'. 

[thx1138]

7 hours ago, mitto said:

English filler shroud.

 

The USA filler shroud would say about :

1) The usage of ink in the pen. Either Superchrome or Parker. 

2) The country of origin ie saying 'Made in USA'. 

No one would know better.

[samba]

Hello,

Thank you all for your responses. 

I was checking thoroughly on the internet about the position of 'vent hole' and suddenly found this thread:

https://www.penhome.co.uk/collections/parker-51-fountain-pens/products/parker-51-classic-in-midnight-blue-steel-cap-medium-nib-1 

I think the 'vent hole' mystery is solved at last!

My Parker '51' is an English MK1, (according to Richard Binder MK1a) which I can guess from this thread. 

A screenshot of that webpage is attached.

Awaiting for your responses!

[samba]

On 10/7/2024 at 11:07 PM, Sheptonian said:

As for the breather hole in the barrel, like others on here I have only ever seen those at the bottom of the barrel on English P51s. Looking back I have seen somewhere around  three dozen Newhaven P51 Aerometrics which is, of course, statistically insignificant given the large number of the pens that must have been manufactured in the UK.

Please check this thread:

https://www.penhome.co.uk/collections/parker-51-fountain-pens/products/parker-51-classic-in-midnight-blue-steel-cap-medium-nib-1

[Sheptonian]

5 hours ago, samba said:

Please check this thread:

https://www.penhome.co.uk/collections/parker-51-fountain-pens/products/parker-51-classic-in-midnight-blue-steel-cap-medium-nib-1

Thank you.

 

As I said, I have never seen a breather hole in the side of a Newhaven Parker 51 Aerometric (of any age) but around three dozen pens is not statistically significant. Given the comments of others I would venture to suggest that an English pen with a breather hole in the side is still unusual. Perhaps @mitto (whose P51 collection almost certainly is statistically significant) could put us right... ?