1960 W.E. 554

[.....]

The link is for a clear fingerplate, this one has the metal dialcard holder ring.
Thanks for the reply. 

I guess I should have looked at your picture instead of Harry's. LOL

[HarrySmith]

It's called a fingerwheel, FYI. A metal fingerwheel.

You just use a small screwdriver to push down the top clip on the number card retainer and pull toward you. I would put some tape on the tip of the screwdriver so the paint isn't scratched. Then you will see the nut that has to be removed to get off the fingerwheel.

I use an old dental pick that has the tip broken off to remove the number card ring. I stick the pick in one of the slots next to the top clip and pop it off that way. This ensures I do not damage the paint. To put the ring back in I use a plastic pry tool made for auto interior plastic trim, again, no paint damage. Just put the bottom clip in the slot, line up the top clip and give it a little push down with the tool to snap it in.

[FABphones]

Thanks guys for that, it is often the simplest things that baffle me.

Now I've managed to remove it I can see the two lugs are different sizes, larger and smaller. And I can see why I found it a bit tricky to get off. It had been put on upside down. So that's why the dialcard was upside down... 

Photos of inside.
Then my fun part. Cleanup time. 

[FABphones]

Dial:

[HarrySmith]

Matching dates! Nice! Have you opened up the handset yet? I am curious if the dates in there match. Did you get the date on the handset cord?

[FABphones]

Matching dates! Nice! Have you opened up the handset yet? I am curious if the dates in there match. Did you get the date on the handset cord?

Oh my, I forgot your phones have so many date stamps. What a good idea but I don't know where to find them all.

I have just taken another look. I found a 60 on the metal cord retainer, is that the cord date? If so I guess that is a match too.
...in the handset, under the receiver it says 60 and under that 64. Is this a match?

What does the 64 mean (am I looking in the right place)?

[HarrySmith]

Yes, that is the date on the cord & handset, they match too! One more date to check, on the handest elements, both should be stamped. Might be dates on the back of the handset caps also. On the handset, I am not sure what the 64 stamp is. I was told the number in the circle is the date.

[FABphones]

....One more date to check, on the handest elements, both should be stamped. Might be dates on the back of the handset caps also. On the handset, I am not sure what the 64 stamp is. I was told the number in the circle is the date.

Photos of the receiver and transmitter at the top of page one, are these what you are looking for?

I will need to check inside the endcaps tomorrow, are they always date stamped?

I found a date stamp on the inner of the bodyshell. 60. 
I don't know what the P or 9 means. Two notches though, same as handset. 

This is not Tenite though    ...ABS...

[HarrySmith]

Excellent! 100% dates matching. Awesome find. I missed the first pictures with the element dates, those are the things I find most often with different dates. The 60 in the circle on the case is the date, the circle is supposed to be some kind of time indicator, like a clock. The handset caps are not always stamped, I have not found a definitive pattern of marked or not marked ones yet.

[andy1702]

As for finding 554s on this side of the pond, I've noted that there are a number of Northern Electric/Northern Telecom versions for sale as these seem to have been used on Irish PTT phonelines, my black 2500 and 554 are both seemingly from Ireland, so makes it somewhat easy to find those particular models, so long as you don't mind them being Canadian...

The way I understand it (and I coiuld be wrong because I'm no expert) if the dial is alphanumeric it's a US used phone. If it's just numeric then it's an Irish one. I have both, but prefer the genuine US ones.

[twocvbloke]

Mine's the Numerical dial, and amusingly has "Made in Canada" in a few spots, but "Made in Ireland" on the original dial card, and looking at the pics from when I got it, it's P&T, not PTT, as that's stamped in a few places, and it's not sure what brand name it is as it has both Northern Electric and Northern Telecom on the thing...

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=11994

Has it been 5 years already since I bought that phone? Blummin' heck...

[FABphones]

...The handset caps are not always stamped...

Thanks for the tips re date stamps. I totally missed these stamps in the endcaps.

Both endcaps have the same stamp: 2C60   

Photos below.

[FABphones]

I'm very pleased. What a treat this has turned out to be.
Thanks again everyone for the info.