First Year Cap Gold Filled Caps with gold filled clips.  Pattern is groups of 4 lines and a space, all around the cap, with no cap band.  Gold content at bottom of cap.  Has rectangle for engraving, framed by double lines.  Found with aluminum jewels most of the time. The design carried forward in later years, but with the rectangle space for engraving eliminated.  This is the most common gold filled first year cap.   Less Common Cap

First Year Cap Gold Filled Caps with gold filled clips.  Pattern is groups of 2 lines and 2 scalloped lines, all around the cap, with no cap band.  Gold content at top of cap.  Found with aluminum jewels most of the time.        Less Common Cap

First Year Cap Sterling Silver Caps with lined pattern and gold filled clips.  Although this design essentially carried over into the later production pens, the chevron cap bands for First Year pens have a unique, simpler design.  Several versions of these caps exist.  The most common has the "Sterling Silver" imprint below the chevron band.  A second version is nowhere imprinted as to metal content.  A third version has the "Sterling Silver" imprint up by the clips in a rectangle box.  Found with aluminum jewels.  These caps were also advertised by early Parker catalogs as the "Heritage" with 14k solid gold trim. Uncommon Cap

First Year Cap Smooth Sterling Silver caps with gold filled clips and chevron band.  All Sterling Silver caps were originally rhodium plated to prevent tarnish.  Plating wore off quickly or was polished off, most often resulting in a shiny finish. Silver content at top of cap only.  Found with aluminum jewels most of the time.        Uncommon Cap