Maker: Sheaffer
This is the standard-sized mid-market Balance, prior to the switch to names; it would develop into the Admiral, which bore the code 5W. This pen’s name is taken from the point indication, and that means it is not a Lifetime guarantee pen– thus, it costs less than the 74T. Like that pen, it was possible to get this pen with either a clip or a ring, and the specific fitting would lend an initial to the end of the model name.
Production Run: 1929 – 1937.
Cost When New: $5.00 for black or jade, $6.00 for black and pearl in the 1930 catalogue. Since the later Admiral stuck at $5.00, it’s likely the variability in pricing settled down in the later part of the run.
Size: 13.9 cm long capped, 16.0 cm posted, 11.8 cm uncapped.
Point: 14k gold with platinum mask (although the mask was absent before 1931).
Body: Celluloid.
Filler: Lever, capacity approx. 1.1 ml, or vacuum filler after 1933, capacity approx. 1.8 ml.
A Sheaffer Balance 5-30TC, in Golden Brown which did not appear until 1936; this is a fairly late example of a pre-name Balance.
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