Parker Date Codes

Find the date code on your Parker pen and identify the year and period of manufacture.
Use the search or filters below to quickly locate a code, or browse the complete reference table.

Year Q1 (Jan–Mar) Q2 (Apr–Jun) Q3 (Jul–Sep) Q4 (Oct–Dec) Notes
1979 NE NC NL NI
1980 QE QC QL QI
1981 UE UC UL UI
1982 AE AC AL AI
1983 LE LC LL LI
1984 IE IC IL II
1985 TE TC TL TI
1986 YE YC YL YI
1987 PE PC PL PI
1988 IIIE IIE IE E
1989 IIIN IIN IN N
1990 IIIQ IIQ IQ Q
1991 IIIU IIU IU U
1992 IIIA IIA IA A
1993 IIIL IIL IL L
1994 IIII III II I
1995 IIIT IIT IT T
1996 IIIY IIY IY Y
1997 IIIP IIP IP P
1998 IIIE IIE IE E
1999 IIIN IIN IN N
2000 Q.III Q.II Q.I Q.
2001 U.III U.II U.I U.
2002 A.III A.II A.I A.
2003 L.III L.II L.I L.
2004 I.III I.II I.I I.
2005 T.III T.II T.I T.
2006 Y.III Y.II Y.I Y.
2007 P.III P.II P.I P.
2008 E.III E.II E.I E.
2009 N.III N.II N.I N.
2010 IIIQ IIQ IQ Q
2011 IIIU IIU IU U
2012 IIIA IIA IA A
2013 IIIL IIL IL L
2014 IIII III II I
2015 IIIT IIT IT T
2016 IIIY IIY IY Y
2017 IIIP IIP IP P
2018 IIIE IIE IE E
2019 IIIN IIN IN N
2020 Q.III Q.II Q.I Q.
2021 U.III U.II U.I U.
2022 A.III A.II A.I A.
2023 L.III L.II L.I L.
2024 I.III I.II I.I I.
2025 T.III T.II T.I T.
2026 Y.III Y.II Y.I Y.
2027 P.III P.II P.I P.
2028 E.III E.II E.I E.
2029 N.III N.II N.I N.

How Parker Date Codes Work

Parker date codes help identify when a pen component was manufactured. The system is useful for estimating the production period of a pen, but it should always be considered together with the model, design, country marking and known catalogue history.

Year Letters
Parker uses a repeating ten-letter sequence based on the words QUALITY PEN:

Q = year ending in 0
U = year ending in 1
A = year ending in 2
L = year ending in 3
I = year ending in 4
T = year ending in 5
Y = year ending in 6
P = year ending in 7
E = year ending in 8
N = year ending in 9

The sequence repeats every ten years. For this reason, the year letter alone cannot identify the correct decade.

Quarter Marks
In periods that use Roman quarter marks, the order is reversed:

III = January to March
II = April to June
I = July to September
No Roman numeral = October to December

During the 2000s and 2020s, the year letter normally appears first and is followed by a dot. The fourth-quarter code keeps the final dot.

During the 1990s and 2010s, the Roman quarter mark normally appears before the year letter and there is no dot separator.

Early Date Codes
A complete and reliable universal quarter-code table has not been confirmed for 1970–1978. It is safer to leave these years unassigned than to publish hypothetical codes.

The standardized QUALITY PEN cycle appears in documented American production during the second half of 1979. Regular use is more clearly documented from 1980 in British and French production.

From 1980 to 1986, the year letter was followed by one of four quarter letters: E, C, L or I.

The year 1987 was a transition period. Parker production information supports the newer Roman-quarter format, while some later reference tables retain the older quarter-letter format. When examining a 1987 pen, the exact marking should be recorded without changing or normalizing it.

What a Date Code Actually Dates
A Parker date code normally dates the component on which it was stamped, usually the cap or barrel. It does not always represent the date when the complete pen was assembled.

The component date may also differ from:

the official model launch date;
the first catalogue appearance;
the retail sale date;
the date printed on the packaging.

Old factory stock, later assembly, replacement caps and exchanged parts can all produce differences between the date code and the apparent age of the complete pen.

Reading Real Stamps
Date codes can be very small, faint or incomplete. Before interpreting a code, record exactly what is visible on the pen. Do not automatically add missing characters or punctuation.

Some Parker factories, models and regional markets were less consistent than others. Reversed, incomplete or irregular markings are known, so unusual stamps should be compared with other examples from the same model and production period.

On China-made Parker pens, date codes from the 2020s may appear without the decade dot. The production decade should therefore be determined from the model’s release period and other identifying features.

On some Parker pens made by Luxor in India, an “I-” prefix identifies Indian production. This prefix is a country or factory indicator and is not part of the year-and-quarter code.

Future Years
Codes listed for 2027–2029 are projections based on the established repeating cycle. The 2030 code is a forecast based on the expected change in decade format. These future entries should not be treated as confirmed until matching production examples are documented.