One of the almost limitless joys of accumulating Pipes by Lee is the chances of a Lee Star Grade being counterfeited in today’s market is nonexistent.
This is true, even though for a good many years after 1946 a Five Star Lee was the finest and most expensive cataloged production pipe on earth, selling for over twice the price of a Flame Grain Kaywoodie and over a third more than a regular cataloged Dunhill,
Since price has rationed every article of commerce from earliest times, the overwhelming majority of Lees are Three Star Grade, which early on wee $10, the same price as a Kaywoodie Flame Grain.
But for his $10, the Lee Three Star customer got exactly the same pipe, with same workmanship, and made on the same line, as if he’d checked the box for a $25 Five Star. The only difference was beauty of the grain, and the lower grades were so beautiful it was an extremely incremental gain.
But the price of Lee Star Grades does seem to be rising, and if I saw a stamped star era Five Star Lee I’d be careful. I’ve never seen a stamped star Five Star, which is curious because inflation made a $25 pipe much more affordable in 1970 than 1955, when there were 5 pointed star Five Star Lees. I’d guess that even during the stamped star era, the Five Stars kept right on with inlaid gold stars.
Unlike a white spot, try counterfeiting a genuine gold inlaid 7 or 5 pointed star Lee with an invisible, recessed, adjustable, double screwed, removable stinger fitment hand adjusted to join stummel and stem. It could be done, but the odds are counterfeiters will continue to counterfeit the white spot and universal push stem.
It would be far cheaper and easier than trying to fake these.
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Although they appear identical, each stem of each Lee was hand fitted, so that none are interchangeable with another Lee, even of the same grade and shape.
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