Is there any correlation between the serial numbers on Sheaffer nibs and the year of manufacture? Most numbers I've seen are at least 6 numbers. Surely there must have been a number 1 at some point.
GaryR

Gary;

No - no number 1 that I am aware of though there are early 0000xx or the like if that's what you mean.

If there are any correlations, and there might be, Daniel's been collecting a lot of data but, I don't know that he's found anything solid.

Roger W.

I'd love to know too - Mine is a six digit starting with "2", and using Richard Binder's profile I've narrowed it down to 1926-7; it has the pre-1927 imprint, and the fact that there is a serial number means (According to him) that it's post '26.

reference

Edit: Perhaps they are something to do with nib types, too? Mine's a medium stub desk pen. I'll post the full number later.
Perhaps everyone could post their serial, with the nib type, model, finish, and imprint type?

Much of the information in that reference article is incorrect, according to my research, so I advise not relying on it. I suspect Roger can elaborate.

--Daniel

I think that is an excellent idea. Maybe we can have a separate post that the mods can pin. I love the idea of FPN research!

I've been curious about these numbers for a while...

I thought the serial numbers were part of the Sheaffer marketing program. They were merely numbers put on the nibs to reinforce the perception of the lifetime warranty in the mind of the buyer. They meant nothing, were not recorded, and had no function as far as the warranty was concerned.

If you'd care to provide specifics, I would be MORE than happy to edit the article.

I know that you would -- I have not had the time to assemble the needed references. I will do so as soon as I am able.

--Daniel

OK, in reference to the assertion that the imprint changes after 1927 to Patented without the dates keeping in mind that this discussion refers only to radite pens.

There is a long standing fallacy in the article to begin with and that has to do with flat top pens ever having hump clips before 1930. This is loosely based on the Titan clip in 1925 and ads claimed to be 1928. I have some 40 ads from 1925 until 1929 and none of them clearly show a humped lower mounted clip - so the ads don't pan out in my book until they are actually produced. As to the Titan clip it was developed for the Titan pencil. This was first advertised in August 1925 and the new pencil received a new clip. There was simply no reason to adopt a new clip for the pens though, I can't say why one was needed for the pencil but, it got one (along with metal pens - it probably has to do with mounting requirements).

From the Sheaffer archivist I have it that there was an internal Sheaffer memo which changes over the way the lever is held in the pen in the fourth quarter of 1930. This corresponds nicely to the pen history in which 3-25's are shown in the 1930 catalogue with lowered clips and there are actual examples of these pens and they are indeed hump clips with old pin retained levers. However, these 1930 pens have dated imprints. This illustrates that the imprints change after 1930 not 1927.

So we push out the adoption of hump clips to big pens after 1930 as the other flattops shown in the 1930 catalogue shows them as straight clip models. The hump clip for radite pens is a balance development that first gets applied to the little 3-25's. Sometime after this we have evidence from pens that will support large pens getting hump clips in 1931 or after as they are all ring retained (new style) levers. I analyzed 72 pens to reach these conclusions and looked over a few more hump clip pens besides.

I found few exceptions, one 89C (large black pen, wide 14K band) had a ring retained lever (circa 1931 and after) with an earlier dated imprint. The clear majority of patented imprints without dates had ring retained levers though. This suggests that the imprint changed in 1931. This makes sense to me in that Sheaffer was maintaining two sets of imprints, the old ones for flattops and new ones for balances which seem to be consolidated to the "Patented in USA" in 1931 eliminating the need for maintaining the old imprints as the generic "Patented in USA" covers the dates anyway just not specifically. Also, specified dates refer to straight clips, which is no longer applicable once hump clips are adopted for flattops.

Other exceptions can be eliminated as generally they involve possible cap to barrel switches especially prevalent in lifetime pens. Much less potential for this is found in the smaller pens which have more specific production runs. Lifetimes of all sorts are made from 1920 until possibly 1940 for flattops. Whereas Secretaries are produced from 1925-1926 and jade 46's are only made in 1927 (there are specific reasons for this but, that goes beyond this discussion).

So, based on everything that I've analyzed, the Patented in USA imprint would date to circa 1931. The hump clip is adopted for all radite flattops in 1931 and does supplant the straight clip with an exception in the case of 14K clips which remain straight (which are not stamped Sheaffer).

Roger W.