Local charity shop came up trumps

Hi all,

After going into many many many charity shops and finding nothing but a fake Montblanc, one finally came up trumps.

A local market trader who I'd given my number to gave me a bell yesterday to say he'd seen a Parker 75 in a local charity shop, and he'd ask them to put it aside for me if I wanted - which I did, very much so! This morning I went along to see what condition it was in, what pattern etc, and it turned out to be a pretty nice Cisele FP & BP set, complete with both boxes, cartridges, and two converters, though sadly not the nib adjuster. It's clearly well used - there are scuffs on the adjustment ring - but other than that it's in pretty good shape. Heavily tarnished, which buffed off with a jeweller's cloth, a good rinse, and it writes really nicely.

It cost me £35 (about $60), which I don't feel was expensive at all, and it's gone to a charity that supports blind people living in London.

P75 box by Inkysloth, on Flickr

P75 Set by Inkysloth, on Flickr

P75 nib by Inkysloth, on Flickr

P75 accessories by Inkysloth, on Flickr

From parker75.com's information, I think this is a 1970's model - but I can't guess any closer than that. Would anyone have any advice?

Best wishes

Robin

as far as i know the box and cartridges , and converter are very early versions ,say 1965 or later, but as the pen has dished tassies,so not an earlier version , but of 70s . congratulations ! you got a very clean and excellent parker 75 sterling with big "fat "converter, on a very low price , my estimation is less than half  of the lowest price on e-bay , and also no shipping cost.if you check the inner side of the margin of upper part of outer card box , you will find date of printing ,and country i.e usa. again a very nice purchase.

if you check the inner side of the margin of upper part of outer card box , you will find date of printing ,and country i.e usa. again a very nice purchase.

Well whaddya know?! It does have some numbers there - 9.66. Would this mean the box was printed in September 1966 perchance? It seems fairly likely that the box could have been made considerably earlier than the pen itself, if dished tassies weren't introduced until 1971 or so.

Thank you!

Deleted

Edited by Idazle, 01 January 2014 - 09:24 PM.

Very nice set indeed and Congratulations!

yes, the box shows that the pen (original one) was made in september 1966 , but the pens did not crrespond to that date , as they lack flat tassies, but your purchase should be called a really lucky one, enjoy  them ., without worrying.good luck

A nice little find indeed ....

Hi all,

 

.

 

It cost me £35 (about $60), which I don't feel was expensive at all, and it's gone to a charity that supports blind people living in London.

 

 

 

It is unusual these days to find charity shops that do not sell items for full market value, with many such enterprises running as very efficient business machines...(and I restore pens for two local hospice groups, and thus see some of what goes on behind the scenes).

I would suggest the charity you purchased this from is a smaller, perhaps less commercially aware body, and as such is one that would probably benefit more if they realised the true value of the donations given to them. 

Without wishing to sound too pompous might I suggest:

a. You come clean with them and pay a fair value for the item obtained (which I reckon is more than £35)

b. You volunteer some of your time to help them sort and accurately identify whatever pens they get donated in future.  

Edited by Paul M, 01 January 2014 - 07:58 PM.

Without wishing to sound too pompous might I suggest:

 

a. You come clean with them and pay a fair value for the item obtained (which I reckon is more than £35)

 

b. You volunteer some of your time to help them sort and accurately identify whatever pens they get donated in future.  

 

Not pompous at all, it's a valuable point to make.

I've been in this shop many times, and this is the first time they've had a fountain pen in that I've seen, and from talking to the staff there, they get them in very rarely. I'd be happy to offer my services to them, as I couldn't afford to pay market value (which is why I trawl charity shops & flea markets in the first place). I can certainly leave them my number & email though if they do get any pens in in future.

If I sell the pen on at some point, I'd give a further donation to the charity, which is what I've done in the past with a couple of text books bought from charity shops.

The organisation is Geranimum, a London based charity working with blind people. http://www.glfb.org.uk/our-shops.html