Knowledge Converts the Leftovers to the Prize

This article has been edited and included in The Leadhead's Pencil Blog Volume 5; copies are available print on demand through Amazon here, and I offer an ebook version in pdf format at the Legendary Lead Company here.

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I don’t remember how or when this one came my way.  I only remember that it wasn’t what interested me when I rolled the dice online:

I also remember being disappointed in whatever the other item was that came with it, and how quickly I put the other one aside to look at this one more closely, hoping to find something that would make the investment worthwhile.  The nose is a little different from the usual fare:

But the eureka moment arrived when, loupe in hand, I could make out something on the barrel:

“Patented  Jan. 1, 1850."  The date is one that sticks in your mind after you’ve researched patents for awhile, since so few were issued prior to the Civil War.  This date refers to patent number 6,981 issued to Albert G. Bagley:

What’s the most interesting to me is that all the examples I’ve seen with Bagley’s patent date stamped on them have been combination dip pen/pencil writing instruments – not pencils only.  However, the title of Bagley’s patent is “Pen or pencil case,” not “and” – so I suppose it makes sense that one might turn up with a pencil only.