Dunhill patent number dating

[bent bulldog]

Hi folks: I just picked up a great old Dunhill Shell briar. It looks like a very early LB shape but does not say "LB" on the shank. It is about a group 5 or 6 but has a number 7 stamped into the shank right beneath the bowl. Then in the usual flat spot where the nomenclature is normally placed it says in the first line, DUNHILL'S ''SHELL BRIAR" (their quotation marks) and the second line says PAT Nos 119708/17.116089/17 and then on the same line an underlined 7. I have seen quite a few Dunhill patent number pipes but none quite like this. Any information from you Dunhill experts out there would be welcome.

 

[Ocelot55]

Sounds like a 1927 to me. The patent numbers, the underlined 7, and the possessive form "Dunhill's" all point to that being the most likely date.