England
This canadian shape pipe bears proudly the oldest and most famous English stamping. The name BBB (Blumfeld’s Best Briar and later – Britain’s Best Briar) is very well known and popular from the middle of the XIX century and became the first registered trademark for English pipes. We would date the pipe by 1950’s or 1960’s. It’s hardly possible to say more precisely.
The pipe markings are “BBB \ LONDON MADE”, “MADE IN ENGLAND \ J504”. The length is 14.5 cm, bowl’s hight is 4.4 cm. External and internal diameters of the bowl are 3.4 cm and 1.8 cm. The depth is 3.9 cm and this pipe weights 29 gr. Briar, vulcanite stem, no filter. There was a very small (2-3 mm) hairline crack in the shank, therefore the pipe has been equipped with the collar. The chamber has been protected with the break-in coat.
Michael Jones
Glad to have found this post and information! Just restored a 504 and had to band it as well. Mine looks the same as the one in the pic above except I used a brass collar