Topic: Perthshire = PP1 vs PP6 Differences?

[imaginary]

I am a bit of a long-time Perthshire paperweight collector and have been running into some trouble identifying the differences between a PP1 weight and a PP6.

Specifically, I find it hard to distinguish the differences between a PP1 weight made between 1978-1981 versus a PP6 weight made between 1972-1977. Per the Perthshire guide book, it states that PP6 weights made in 1972-1977 are identical to the PP1 weights made after 1977. Both weights come with a hollow-ground base, a center "P" cane, and both seem like they can come in multiple base colors unlike the earlier PP6 weights that came in only green. Without knowing the specific manufacturing date, it seems like it's next to impossible to know whether a given weight is a PP1 or PP6.

A potential online seller has stated to me that his 3" weight was not a 1978-1981 PP1 but a 1972-1972 PP6, and I honestly can't tell the difference just by looking at it. Since the PP6 weights are a bit rarer, it would be nice to know whether what he is saying is true or if there's no way to tell.

Any tips would be appreciated.

[KevinH]

Hi imaginary, welcome to the Board.

It does take some sorting out to identify PP1 / PP6 (and some PP5) across the years 69 to 77.

However, for the years 72 to 77 (when both PP1 and PP6 were all "large" (3 inch) and seem to be identical in pattern) there was a clear difference. PP1 were not signed and had a fire polished base but the PP6 had a central "P" cane and hollow ground base. This detail is in the book but needs to be set out in some form of chart to make good sense of it.

[imaginary]

Hi Kevin,

I probably should have rephrased the question since it might have not been clear. Yes, you are correct that the hollow base and P cane are the distinctive features of the PP6 paperweight vs a PP1 made within the same years of 1972-1977. However, would there be a way to visually tell the differences between a 1978 PP1 and a 1977 PP6? Assuming there is no way to pinpoint a date for a given piece, wouldn't any PP1 weight between the years of 1978-1981 run a risk of being misidentified as a 3" PP6?

[KevinH]

Thanks for the rephrasing.

Yes, I misunderstood your main point about the comparison of PP1 for the period 1978-1981 and the PP6 for period 1972-1977.  [ I really must try harder.]

Yes, from the details in the book, they were identical in visual features and cannot be separated on that basis.

You said that PP6 are "a bit rarer". Are there details anywhere about the actual numbers made for PP1 and PP6 of those years? Assuming the design changes were applied at the beginning of a calendar year, there were 4 years of PP1 for 78-81 and 6 years of PP6 for 72-77. So could the PP1 actually be rarer than the PP6?