Hi David,
I must admit I've taken little interest in Sheaffer flat tops, when you see them like this it does make me wonder why I haven't !! It's nice to see that "whoever" gave the first pen supported the "local" manufacturer. One question, is the orange/red pen a "loaner" and if so is a groove (instead of a cap band) a distinguishing feature of these?
Regards
Hugh
Hi Hugh.
The cherry red (not orange) bandless pen indeed is a Loaner. It is catalogued (at least as red and as Loaner), though this one is a tweak on the catalogued catalogued variant, as this one has a normal Sheaffer clip, not the very un-Sheafferlike Z-clip that is shown on the catalogued Loaner and found on the pen I won in that large lot referenced in this thread.
http://fountainpenboard.com/forum/index.php?/topic/1535-isaacson-ebay-bid-hero-or-goat/
The groove is typical to these and is seen on other (not sure on all) bandless Sheaffers. Have to double check on the last point. Waterman used a similar look.
Some of my off catalogue orange (coral) variants are bandless and have similar groove
http://fountainpenboard.com/forum/index.php?/topic/152-sheaffer-1920s-orange-celluloid-flat-end-pens
regards
david