Made by William Gibson of Kinghorn, Scotland, the Princeps putter is upside down in a right-side up world. The flange is behind the top of the blade, not the sole! By locating extra weight high on the blade, this putter sought to impart topspin to the ball. That was the goal anyway—to have the ball dive, not just fall, into the hole.  Sounds great in theory, but, judging from the rarity of this club, it didn't work well in actuality.  

The putter pictured is marked “The Princeps \ Gibson’s \ Patent \ No 28443 \ Warranted Hand Forged \ Special” on the back of the blade. A patent was never issued for this club. The five digit British patent number marked on the head was issued for a pre-1916 patent application.

Original 34" shaft and leather wrap grip.