As far as I can tell it’s the original pencil, which appears unused, however there’s no stamp and that’s unusual. It could be a replacement but it seems too coincidental that it would be the perfect diameter and length. It writes with a softness I’d say of a No. 1 pencil.
Dip pens were everywhere even into the fifties. Hotel receptions, post offices, anywhere you had to sign something you would be offered a dip pen. Civil service clerks were issued two, one for red ink the other for iron gall registrar’s ink. If you wanted a fountain pen and worked in an office you had to bring your own and risk the damage the ink might do to it. It wasn’t the fountain pen that killed the dip pen, it was the cheap ballpoint.
Eberhard Faber combination pencil and dip pen, ca. 1912.
Contrapuntalism 
That is gorgeous! I love that dark gunmetal with the brass accent stripes — it reminds me of the stripe on an old Blackwing ferrule.
Is that the original pencil insert, Sean, or did you put that in there? Love that little guy, too.
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As far as I can tell it’s the original pencil, which appears unused, however there’s no stamp and that’s unusual. It could be a replacement but it seems too coincidental that it would be the perfect diameter and length. It writes with a softness I’d say of a No. 1 pencil.
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In 1912 fountain pens exists but were probably not the default – dip pens would have been the rule (?).
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Dip pens were everywhere even into the fifties. Hotel receptions, post offices, anywhere you had to sign something you would be offered a dip pen. Civil service clerks were issued two, one for red ink the other for iron gall registrar’s ink. If you wanted a fountain pen and worked in an office you had to bring your own and risk the damage the ink might do to it. It wasn’t the fountain pen that killed the dip pen, it was the cheap ballpoint.
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