Dunhill 1971 Shell Briar 5-digit Stamp Question

[thomasw]

So this wonderful albeit little Dublin was made in 1971 and has a five digit stamp which is 21051. Is the 2 the bowl size, 1 the stem type and 05 the shape type - e.g., dublin??? Or am I misreading this stamp? Also I can't figure out what the 5th digit means, the "1". Any help would be appreciated.

The date seems to tell us it is a 1971 pipe with the "11" after the D:>

 

[daveinlax]

Years ago I studied and consulted with other collectors including John Loring about what that fifth digit represents and came up with nothing.
I can’t make out the date code but 1971 seems pretty early for the 4 or 5 digit size/shape code.

 

[xrundog]

I have 3 pipes like that. 2 Cumberlands, an ‘84 and an ‘87. The other is a ‘77 Root Briar. The fifth number on all of them is a 1. All are straight pipes. But that should be covered by the shape number. I haven’t found anything either.

 

[thomasw]

Years ago I studied and consulted with other collectors including John Loring about what that fifth digit represents and came up with nothing.
I can’t make out the date code but 1971 seems pretty early for the 4 or 5 digit size/shape code.

Thanks for the reply about the date stamp which Steve Laug and I thought was an "11"; when I put it under a 6x loop, my son and I were able to see it is really a deformed "6". So you are correct; the pipe was made later in 1976! The weird part is that there's that line under the 16

But the mystery of the fifth digit on Dunhill pipes remains... one of the pipeman's eternal questions

 

[georged]

I have 3 pipes like that. 2 Cumberlands, an ‘84 and an ‘87. The other is a ‘77 Root Briar. The fifth number on all of them is a 1. All are straight pipes. But that should be covered by the shape number. I haven’t found anything either.

Here's a "something other than 1 as the last digit" specimen:

1982 Dunhill Root Briar (shape 51033) :: British Pipes

For all practical purposes, this is an LB with a longer stem. The grain is what I always think of as the "Peterson Cut" because it's so common for them: Full-coverage birds-eye/paisley on one side, a thumbprint starburst on the other, almost always rotated about an eighth-turn from square...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[xrundog]

Took my Root Briar off the rack to smoke, it appears I was mistaken.