Stockbroker mechanical pencils are a different breed. They are almost always oversize, heavy and well made. The materials range from solid gold to silver plating and everything in between. Typical lead size diameter is the extra large 5.6mm. The story goes that traders on the stock exchange floor found the thick lead pencils useful in hurriedly scribbling buy and sell orders. Lengths depicted here range from the 5 3/4 inch clipless, sterling model on top to the extra short 3 1/4 inch example on the bottom. Pencils of this type were produced from the 1920's all the way into the late 1940's.

From top to bottom the makers of the pencils are: a no name, an Edward Todd, a Hicks, another no name and a Victor.