Parker 51 C/C Fountain Pen

[proteus]

Can anyone here please tell me how rare a Parker 51 C/C Fountain Pen is ( Converter / Cartridge )

The current value ?
What you may pay to buy one.

The only information that I have is they made at Arrow Park.
Am aware of what is written about them on Parker 51.com et al

The production dates vary alot.

Somewhere between 1958 and 1963

They would appear to have been made in 5 colours. ( I have only seen 2 of these pens, one black, the other Midnight Blue )

Foolishly I once had one and sold it – the offer from another collector was vastly more than the price I bought it for.

Any comments would be appreciated, particularly if you actually own one.

The photography shown is of the pen I used to own, the second one is a net lift

[Yorvik Pens]

Hi proteus,
I don't have any new information for you, regarding the Parker 51cc but here are pictures of three I currently own.

46818

46819

46820


Paul.

[proteus]

Paul

Sir,

A Great Many Thanks for posting your photography of some very rare pens.
( On a personal note, you have added another dimension to this forum for me, it is greatly appreciated )

There is no photography anywhere of the Forest Green version.

My file notes show a 1958/59 batch run at Arrow Park.

5 Colours only

Black ( Parker Colour Code 11 )
Burgundy ( Colour Code 14 )
Teal Blue ( Colour Code 26)
Midnight Blue ( Colour Code 15 )
Forest Green ( Colour Code 12 )


Have a couple of questions please.

Can you confirm that ‘ Made in USA ‘ is printed on the nib ( no date mark ), cap band and converter.

Do any have the original chalk marks ?

What value would you place on each pen ?

I am not attempting to buy one.

Thank You.

nb - There is a Parker collector here who lives in the Alps, thought he would wish to comment ( Has an outstanding collection of P51 MkIII's )

[Yorvik Pens]

Paul

Sir,

A Great Many Thanks for posting your photography of some very rare pens.
( On a personal note, you have added another dimension to this forum for me, it is greatly appreciated.
Thank you, it's nice to be appreciated.

There is no photography anywhere of the Forest Green version.
Parker 51.com shows a Forest Green with gold filled cap, on the web site, same page as the (net lift) pic you show above.

My file notes show a 1958/59 batch run at Arrow Park.

5 Colours only

Black ( Parker Colour Code 11 )
Burgundy ( Colour Code 14 )
Teal Blue ( Colour Code 26)
Midnight Blue ( Colour Code 15 )
Forest Green ( Colour Code 12 )
Is that not a navy grey pen you show in the "net lift" picture (second from left)?

Have a couple of questions please.

Can you confirm that ‘ Made in USA ‘ is printed on the nib ( no date mark ), cap band and converter.
Yes I can, on one nib (Forest Green), it's the only one that I have removed to clean, I presume the other two are the same,
they are in near mint condition and will be staying in one piece while in my possession.
46849

All cap bands and converters are marked ‘Made in USA‘
46850

Unusually all the cap jewels are different (as found). One looks to be standard P 51, one is opaque grey, while the third is black.
Two of the caps have the 4 finger clutch, the other (black jewel cap) has a (short) 5 hole basket clutch.
46851


Do any have the original chalk marks ?
Yes, the Burgundy has the 4 diamonds on the barrel (quite feint).
46852

What value would you place on each pen ?
Don't know, value varies with interest and presentation quality of sellers advertisement.
Last one I saw on ebay went for about £180.

I am not attempting to buy one.

Thank You.
You're welcome.
Paul.

[proteus]

What remarkable photography.

I thought I was half good, your photography is the next level – it is very impressive.

As for the colours produced, of course, you are correct, there are 6 known ( that was my mistake ).

I have never seen a Parker standard production 51 with a black jewel before.

The nib shown was what I was expecting – it is a standard post 1960 USA.

Newhaven continued to print their P51 nibs until 1963 ( I have one )

As you have a lot of rare Parkers, you may wish to display some P61’s ( my passion ) or others that you have – P51 Mk III’s et al.

I still await others comments ( I know that there are at least 2 others here who know a lot about these pens )

[azkid]

Such cool pens. I inked up my aerometric recently. I had no idea there were c/c versions. I may have to go on a quest for one.

[proteus]

Some more photography of these pens.

I think they were sold in the UK as well.

1. From the Janesville archive - the pen.
2. An advertisement for this pen ( believed to be 1960/1. )
3 NOS Midnight Blue pen ( the cap jewel is white pearl )

[carlos.q]

Such cool pens. I inked up my aerometric recently. I had no idea there were c/c versions. I may have to go on a quest for one.

There is also a third party adapter that can be used to change an aerometric to a c/c pen.

[proteus]

carlos.q

Many thanks for your reply.

Do you have a photograph of the adapter that you have mentioned.

Or a link ( name ) of a supplier / seller

[carlos.q]

carlos.q

Many thanks for your reply.

Do you have a photograph of the adapter that you have mentioned.

Or a link ( name ) of a supplier / seller


Check this page, about halfway down:
https://pentooling.com/partsparker51.html

I recently bought one of these adapters but I have yet to convert a P51 to c/c.

[Chrissy]

Check this page, about halfway down:
https://pentooling.com/partsparker51.html

I recently bought one of these adapters but I have yet to convert a P51 to c/c.

That looks really interesting. Thanks carlos.q :)

[proteus]

Have have a chance to look at this conversion, another pen collector's pen.

Sorry, just looks to primitive for me.



There were at least 7 colours of these pens, not the usual 6 everyone mentions.

There is a Dark Burgundy aka American Brown


The sale release date appears to be late 1961.

[Chrissy]

The conversion on Pentooling clearly shows the replacement connector is brass. ITEM #CART51CONV:
I'm tempted to buy one while I'm there. :)

[proteus]

Chrissy, Thanks for your reply ( as always )

I would be very interested to hear what you think of connector given your expertise at actually using pens to write with.

[Chrissy]

Chrissy, Thanks for your reply ( as always )

I would be very interested to hear what you think of connector given your expertise at actually using pens to write with.

I currently don't have a Parker 51 in my collection. I never used the one I had, so I sold it to someone who wanted one. My main problem with the 51 is changing ink colours and being able to really clean out the pen effectively before doing so. The aerometric converter only does so much and takes a while. At least I could remove a twist action converter and use my "ear bulb" to flush the section before I refilled with fresh ink. This appeals to me.
If I saw a parker 51 C/C that I could afford to buy, then that would be a good option. However, I've never seen one. :(

[pajaro]

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346417-parker-51-cartridgeconverter-pen-new-style/

[proteus]

chrissy,

I read your comments about a standard P51, it would not suit your needs like a Sonnet or most post 1994 Parker pens.

pajaro,

I enjoyed reading your excellent post of the P51 conversion, thank you.

Possibly unlike both of you my entire focus is collecting rare Parker pens, none of which I will actually use myself. ( I am sure both of you will think that is quite sad but it is just the way of a collector )

[Chrissy]

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346417-parker-51-cartridgeconverter-pen-new-style/
Thanks for that pajaro. An interesting read. :)

[Chrissy]

chrissy,

I read your comments about a standard P51, it would not suit your needs like a Sonnet or most post 1994 Parker pens.

pajaro,

I enjoyed reading your excellent post of the P51 conversion, thank you.

Possibly unlike both of you my entire focus is collecting rare Parker pens, none of which I will actually use myself. ( I am sure both of you will think that is quite sad but it is just the way of a collector )


I'm no fan of standard Parker 51 pens. Buying a connector appeals, but I'm still uncertain. :)

[pajaro]

chrissy,

I read your comments about a standard P51, it would not suit your needs like a Sonnet or most post 1994 Parker pens.

pajaro,

I enjoyed reading your excellent post of the P51 conversion, thank you.

Possibly unlike both of you my entire focus is collecting rare Parker pens, none of which I will actually use myself. ( I am sure both of you will think that is quite sad but it is just the way of a collector )

I think this is quite interesting and admirable. I only use my first Parker 51 and a couple of the Sonnets with Italic nibs. The rest of them I just have left as a hoard. If I had the money I would collect the rarer 51s and the Lacque Sonnets.

[Barry B. Gabay]

This is a real education. Thank you all for the interesting information. Have seen only a black 51 cc in person. I do have a conversion from one of Howard Levy's 51 kits which Roger Cromwell installed on a cocoa aero. Great writer. But those originals! Thank you all for being such great teachers. I do, however, own & regularly use six UK 61 cc originals.

[proteus]

Barry B. Gabay,

I for one are very pleased you enjoyed reading this post.

The images of these pens shown have never been seen anywhere else by anyone before.

Mostly thanks to yorvil pens sharing his collection.

Perhaps you may consider creating a new post - Parker 61 C/C

I would like to see your collection of 6 UK versions please. ( I like looking at other collectors Parker pens )

[pajaro]

chrissy,

I read your comments about a standard P51, it would not suit your needs like a Sonnet or most post 1994 Parker pens.

pajaro,

I enjoyed reading your excellent post of the P51 conversion, thank you.

Possibly unlike both of you my entire focus is collecting rare Parker pens, none of which I will actually use myself. ( I am sure both of you will think that is quite sad but it is just the way of a collector )


I'm no fan of standard Parker 51 pens. Buying a connector appeals, but I'm still uncertain. :)

This was an interesting exercise, and I felt I had to go through with it, but I don't know that I will ever use it. I would have to punch in a cartridge to use one in this pen and this only worked because I used a Vacumatic section with short breather tube. Nothing to punch a cartridge in this adapter.

I had one of the original C/C 51s years ago, and it was pretty restricted in inkflow. I had thought of buying another that Old Griz, Tom Mulane, had for sale, but he wrote me that ink flow was stingy.

[proteus]

pajaro,

I read your comments with interest.

Have no experience with any P51 or P61 cartridge adapters - I always thought they looked primitive.

The first P51 C/C I ever bought was Black, about 3 years ago.

I dismantled it completely and ultra sonically cleaned it in distilled water. ( Did not take any photography of the strip down, at the time it did not seem that important )

The feed is very simple and so very clever. ( I wanted to have a good look at early 1960's Parker pen engineering - nib & feed, was just interested to look and see )

It is vastly simpler than a standard P51 feed unit, it used alot of the P45 feed technology / principles.

It worked perfectly.

Maybe I was just lucky.

[proteus]

Was sent this today by a USA Parker collector.

[pajaro]

pajaro,

I read your comments with interest.

Have no experience with any P51 or P61 cartridge adapters - I always thought they looked primitive.

The first P51 C/C I ever bought was Black, about 3 years ago.

I dismantled it completely and ultra sonically cleaned it in distilled water. ( Did not take any photography of the strip down, at the time it did not seem that important )

The feed is very simple and so very clever. ( I wanted to have a good look at early 1960's Parker pen engineering - nib & feed, was just interested to look and see )

It is vastly simpler than a standard P51 feed unit, it used alot of the P45 feed technology / principles.

It worked perfectly.

Maybe I was just lucky.



Nice original pen. I knew little about pens when I had a pen like it. There's is no knowing why mine worked poorly.

Better to be lucky than good.