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Parker 51 w/Rolled Silver cap


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#1 diplo

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Posted 30 August 2010 - 11:43 AM

Hello guys. Yesterday I won this P51 on ebay.


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It is a common English teal blue aerometric. The distinguishing characteristic is the cap. Has the “R. Silver Made in England” engrave and it is made of rolled sliver with a GF clip. The Shepherd book claims that this is the most researched of all the English variants, but how scarce it is? Did you ever seen one?

Thank you and ciao, Andrea

#2 david i

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Posted 30 August 2010 - 12:33 PM

Hello guys. Yesterday I won this P51 on ebay.


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It is a common English teal blue aerometric. The distinguishing characteristic is the cap. Has the “R. Silver Made in England” engrave and it is made of rolled sliver with a GF clip. The Shepherd book claims that this is the most researched of all the English variants, but how scarce it is? Did you ever seen one?

Thank you and ciao, Andrea


Hi Adrea,

A nice find no doubt.

As for most Parker's that are "English only" variants, this will necessarily be less common than most of the USA-made sort, certainly regarding prevalence in North America but also probably in overall prevalence. I lack- no surprise- stats for production/sales numbers, but devastated Europe during the decade following WWII hardly was the conspicuous consumer that was the USA. Too, Parker, while having a significant international presence of course was based in USA. I am amenable to hearing conflicting views on those givens.

Here are two Rolled Silver Parker "51's", caps-only, from my "51 Insanity" update from 2 years ago.

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I have perhaps three more sitting about now during my pursuit of another 150-200 Parker 51's for what I hope to be a winter "round 2" offering of this venerable series.


Note for the pens above, the color also is "English only", a redder-than-usa Burgundy that I alliteratively called British Bloody Burgundy, although given some objections by some that "bloody" is impolite in Britain, i might change that description for the next round.


Be that as it may, the pens above illustrate again that deviations from the USA standard occurred for Parker pens made internationally. The reddish Burgundy is grossly more scarce than USA Burgundy (and, I'm not sure British Parker ever made conventional Burgundy) and might (or might not) be more scarce than Plum, but it probably is not so scarce due to limited production run (as with Plum) but simply by virtue of its lack of manufacture in the USA.


Note, too, and while I don't quite insist, even your "common teal" might not be so... common. I vaguely recall seeing a number of British "Teal" pens whose color deviates from that of the USA Teal. Perhaps not as striking as the difference between British Burgundy and American, but I suspect a side-to-side still would yield difference, although in all fairness I see USA Teals that vary (batch difference? era difference? differential sun fading? etc).


British-marked gold filled (rolled, not filled in Britain) caps and even Lustraloy caps can vary from USA appearence, perhaps something as simple as the font used for "PARKER", sometimes more, perhaps the pattern. All these tweaks obviously will be more scarce on average than typical USA-made caps.


So, the next question, one near and dear to my heart-- though often lacking absolute and/or non-subjective answers-- is beyond simple scarcity, how much added cachet is found in these "international" findings? This is, after all, what most wonder when finding a pen, not how much is the absolute rarity difference, but is there a bonus in demand, dollar-value, "oomph"???


Who knows? After all the answers necessarily are subjective, though one can evoke market value to try to make some comparison.


My view?


Most of the British-only variants carry at least appreciation from knowledgeable collectors for being at least tweaks on the common theme, items relatively uncommon but with a asterisk (*) as their relative uncommonness stems not from limited production, lack or release, rapid consumption, etc, but simply from point of origin. Similar to how some Canadian Parker Vacumatic pens that have unique-to-Canada features have less added value than if the pens had been anomalous USA production. Thus, most British-only Parker 51 variants have some added value but not as much as they would have if these were rare USA variants.


A caveat to this of course is to recognize that even accounting for "international" production some items are disproportionately scarce or of significance, so have added demand or value. So a British marked Lustraloy or rolled-gold 51 cap that is not identical to the USA made form might have minimal- if any- added value, but the british Burgundy barrel color carries a bit more value, etc.


For example, the British all rolled-silver "51" (cap and barrel) is a high cachet item, not only due to being scarce (though that contributes), but because (I assert) it is the only silver-toned complete pen found in the 51 series, giving it extra "oomph" with collectors. Indeed, reports exist (possibly David Nishimura cited this recently) of British Signet (all rolled gold pens) being plated and pushed on the unwary as all rolled-silver.


Regarding your pen, after all the babble above?


I believe the rolled-silver British cap is something of a "better" cap no doubt, that of course being a nebulous description. All else equal, it carries added value, though not huge added value, figure adds perhaps another $75-100 to value of pen, perhaps a sad affair for a not-so-common cap. Such is the difference between rarity and cachet... or rarity and dollar value. That said, these are hard to find clean. The surface is fragile, and most show scratches or loss of plating. A pristine cap would carry greater value. I have not of late read the commentary from Shepherd's book, but my experience is that the rolled silver cap is not overwhelmingly scarce. It is... nice.


Those are my 4¢


Regards


David


David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#3 Hugh

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Posted 31 August 2010 - 04:21 AM

Nice one Andrea, I would have thought not that common. Have seen a few on ebay over the years, yours looks to be in excellent condition. While David is no doubt correct about US v English production my guess is that the output from Newhaven would have been quiet high given that the market would have included a lot of English Commonwealth countries like Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa as well as the Middle East and South East Asia and that Mabie Todd was out of the market during the war years ( and never recovered properly from it either) . Just a thought on that of course.

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Hugh
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#4 diplo

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Posted 31 August 2010 - 06:51 AM

That said, these are hard to find clean. The surface is fragile, and most show scratches or loss of plating.


Yes, that's what I am afraid of. The seller, answering a precise question on this matter, replyed: “The cap is, slightly, age blemished. What I mean, is that, it's not mint.” We will see when it arrives home. By the way the amount of money invested was reasonable (34£).


I have perhaps three more sitting about now during my pursuit of another 150-200 Parker 51's for what I hope to be a winter "round 2" offering of this venerable series.


When do you plan to release this new batch? It sounds promising, I mean: two hundred P51...


The reddish Burgundy is grossly more scarce than USA Burgundy (and, I'm not sure British Parker ever made conventional Burgundy)


I have an English burgundy that is dark like a cordovan brown. Of course sun tan can always be blamed but I think the answer is yes, British Parker made conventional Burgundy in addition to the "redder" Burgundy.


While David is no doubt correct about US v English production my guess is that the output from Newhaven would have been quiet high given that the market would have included a lot of English Commonwealth countries like Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa as well as the Middle East and South East Asia and that Mabie Todd was out of the market during the war years ( and never recovered properly from it either)


I agree, the outout of P51 on ebay.co.uk is impressive...

Best, Andrea

#5 diplo

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Posted 10 September 2010 - 03:29 PM

Well, finally after a week spent away for business I went home and found it.
I polished the cap and I must say it's a lovely pen.

Here are a couple of pics made yesterday evening after the TLC.

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Ciao, Andrea

#6 david i

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Posted 11 September 2010 - 12:22 AM

Well, finally after a week spent away for business I went home and found it.
I polished the cap and I must say it's a lovely pen.

Ciao, Andrea



Looks like you did quite well. A nice addition to any collection.

-d





David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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