Rare *Alternate lid* Villeroy & Boch Mettlach Stein - 2001 A - 0.5L - Made 1891

Description

Rare -Alternate lid- Villeroy & Boch Mettlach Stein - 2001 A - 0.5L - Made 1891
This is one of a set of 12 steins called "Book Spines". This one is "Book Spines for Jurists" or lawyers. However there are some things that make this stein different than all the others I have seen whilst searching. The most obvious is the lid and thumb lift. It is solid pewter (no inlay) and has a statement very roughly translated to "Don't give a drop of beer after half past four in the morning" and then "Get out of there!" it looks like the 1890's version of the police shutting down the after hours spot. There is also a town name of "NABBURG" printed on the bottom of the building to the left of the foot soldier. The second difference is the handle is attached to the bottom blue band instead of just under the books. This version of handle was mentioned in my research as a variation. Also the labels on the book spines are glossy and the spines themselves are more of a matte finish. There is also a gold hand painted number "26" on the bottom. I believe this is an artist number. The design is attributed to Otto Hupp.
Flaws in manufacture: There are some small bare spots on the edges of a few of the labels. There is a speck of gold paint on the "LIB PAND" volume I label.
Damage: There is a small dent on the upper edge of the lid about an inch counter-clockwise from the thumblift. The thumblift is bent slightly towards the ding. Damage is only noticeable with close inspection.
I have not been able to find another like this at all. I do not know whether it is a mistake, a special order, or a rare alternate version, or if there is some other explanation for it. I will not respond to offers made in the first few days of the auction in order to give people a chance to see it. Please look at photos closely. The anomalies and damage can all be seen in the pictures. I research what I sell to attempt to set fair pricing, but I am not a Mettlach expert. Please look at all of the pictures. Feel free to message me with any questions.
Here is a link to more information including all versions(hit the next button at the bottom of the page that link leads to to see all variations):
https://www.beerstein.net/item.asp?ItemNum=vbm-2001A
I acquired this and several other VB Mettlach steins and tumblers (as well as other antiques and collectibles) from the same lot at auction. I will be posting many items over the next couple of weeks. See my other auctions and listings. There are a lot of cool things.
Good luck. Happy bidding.