To paraphrase the late Paul Harvey, here's the rest of the story concerning this pipe. In an attempt to determine just what I have, I contacted Peterson in Ireland and exchanged numerous e-mail messages with a very helpful gentleman named Glen at their Peterson Store. It is his opinion that the bowl of this pipe was frazed as a Mark Twain model, but that it was mis-stamped as a DeLuxe, and this was based upon two considerations. First, the shape of the pipe. Second, the fact that it was not marked with a shape number (he stated that the Mark Twain models were not, while the DeLuxe ones were). The hallmarking on the sterling silver band of this pipe indicates that it was manufactured in 1981, the year that the Mark Twain model was introduced. Since its production was just beginning, it is easy to see (at least to me) how this mistake could have been made.
Now regarding the red Mark Twain box, did it originally accompany the pipe, further compounding the mis-stamping error, or did the heirs of the original owner simply put the wrong pipe in it when they were gathering their father's collection to ship to the eBay seller? The answer to that question will never be known.
As for the eBay seller himself, he was very gracious regarding this matter, and we were able to amicably settle on a reduced price. I also want to publicly thank rcstan for the valuable advice which he rendered through multiple private messages.
This pipe required minimal clean-up, and is now undergoing the salt-and-alcohol treatment. Once it is dry, I will appropriately inaugurate it with a bowl of A&C Petersen's No. 150 (their Mark Twain mixture). It's a good day to be a pipe-smoker!
