wallace, that is indeed an African Meer Peterson. Yours has a sterling band, mine is just plain nickel.
Looking at pic #2 where the hallmarks are, and looking at this chart
HERE I am extremely envious. The hallmarks are indicating 1977 which would make it a birth year pipe for me :worship:
I believe Peterson quit making African Meer pipes in the late 70s / early 80s .....
+1 to the advice that rothnh provided. Every now and again ( after about a dozen bowls ) I wipe the inside of the bowl carefully with a piece of rag that is ever so damp with alcohol, making sure that it doesn't go anywhere else. Of course, I didn't make sure a few times and now my bowl is a few shades lighter in the rim area 8O
African Meer is much much heavier than Turkish Meer and briar as well. My pipe weighs approx 53.3 grams or 1.88 ounces. A similar sized briar Pete ( System 314 ) only weighs about 42 grams or 1.5 ounces .