@ Allan
When in doubt about ANYTHING on eBay, don't buy. Always ask sellers for clarification. The honest ones will be happy to help.
Here are a few identifiers for a family era, or Pre-Transition Barling pipe:
Logo: Arched BARLING"S over MAKE in block lettering for all grades except the Guinea Grain grading. The Guinea Grain grading has a script logo consisting of the word "Barling's". Note the apostrophe and the letter "s". Later pipes have a script logo without the apostrophe and the letter "s".
Model numbers: On many older Barling pipes, on Straight Grains, or special orders there is no model number. If the pipe was intended for the English or European market it had a four digit model number that began with a "1". If the pipe was intended to sell in the US it had an alternate numbering system set up by Barling's American distributor, Nichols. These Nichols numbers consist of one, two, or three digits and sometimes also include a letter, such as an "M" for meerschaum lined, or an "F" for fantail stem. Occasionally you may find someone using the term "Pre-Nichols" to describe the English numbering system. That term is bullshit. The two numbering systems existed side by side.
Size nomenclature: Prior to 1940, Barling produced bowls in 3 sizes, small, medium, and large. Sometime around 1940, Barling expanded its range of sizes to include the following: SS, S, S-M, L, EL, EXEL, and EXEXEL. Occasionally you will hear someone claim that they have a pipe with these size markings from an earlier period. They don't. The may have a Frankenpipe, one where an older sterling band has been added to a later pipe. I've seen several of those kluges.
Other nomenclature Pipes made between 1936 and 1950 may have a "reg'd" number imprinted on the underside of the stem. That is a patent number for Barling's stem and bit design.
Sometimes the pipes have MADE IN ENGLAND. stamped on the shank. Sometimes there is no period after the word ENGLAND. There is NO SIGNIFICANCE to the presence or absence of the period. Period.
TVF is a minor grading stamp. It means "The Very Finest"
That covers most of it.
I also consider the last of the BARLING"S MAKE pipes, those made in 1962 which have the new model numbering system that was released in 1962 to be no different than the generally accepted Pre_Transition pipes in terms of quality. The only difference between them and hundreds, or possibly thousands of late production accepted Pre-Transition pipes is the model stamp.
After the BARLING"S MAKE stamp got dropped in late 1962, things got a bit murkier. However, Barling produced excellent pipes in all eras.
