Very early Mullard EL84s with O-getters?


I have two coin-based O-getter EL84s, with no holes in the plates. One tube is branded El-Menco and the other is branded Siemens. The El-Menco shows "Gt Britain" and "164-519" in white print. There are no etched production codes visible on either tube.

My limited understanding is that the earliest Mullard EL84s had coin bases and a "1608" designation (pre rX1). There were a few different factory codes, all indicating 1954 as the year of manufacture. At least some of those tubes (F4 factory code), had no holes in the plate.

The coin base would suggest very early production, but the O-getter, as opposed to disc or square, seems inconsistent with that. Thanks for any helpful comments.
bilbar

Showing 5 responses by bilbar

No, these are 84s. I guess my question comes down to: can a European EL84 tube from 1954 have a halo getter?
Yes, I have explored the Tube Classics webpage. The 1954 Mullard coin base "1608 F4" tube there resembles what I have, but the getter-type is unspecified. Mine have halo getters, which I had always thought came after the squares and discs.
Thanks for that tip! I have some photos of them on photobucket. Can I post links here?
Yes, I saw the news about Charlie.

These are definitely EL84 tubes. The missing clues are the production codes. The closest I have found to a similar tube is a photo at tube-classics.de. That tube is Mullard-branded with factory codes indicating it was made at Suresnes, France in 1954.