The SML King Marigaux Stencil
The King Marigaux was definitely the most popular and numerous of the SML stencil horns.
These horns are essentially Gold Medal Mk. II horns with different engraving. There is a rumored possibility that King had some of these horns made in the style of the King Silver-Sonic: a lacquer body with a (sterling) silver neck and bell, but I have not seen any. I can say that any finish other than lacquer on a King Marigaux is extremely rare.
From what I've been able to see, the serial number listings for these horns parallel that of the SML models, rather than the Kings. I have not been able to determine an accurate serial number for the start or end date of these horns. Possibly the start date was 1968 or slightly earlier and I've confirmed a new Marigaux sold in 1986 - although that could have been one of those "attic" horns - a brand new horn that was sitting on some music store's shelf for years and then sold (and there are a lot of SML's like that).
But, as said, I haven't seen examples with rolled tone holes or the other trappings of the Gold Medal "Mk. I".
It's possible, from the postings that I've read, that the Marigaux horns were SML's "factory seconds," because of the "hit or miss" nature of these horns. I've seen a lot of posts to the various saxophone discussion groups saying Marigaux A plays as good as a Gold Medal and an equivalent amount saying that Marigaux B is considerably lower quality than a Gold Medal. Note that no one ever says they're junk, though. This is similar to what many folks say about the Selmer Mark VII in comparision to the Mark VI - except that some people do say the VII's junk :~).
IMHO, these people may just think that these horns are lower quality because they don't say "Gold Medal" on the bell. Either that or they don't realize that thre are two models of Gold Medal, and the later one - which the SML is patterned after - is of somewhat lower quality.
These horns are intriguing because after 25xxx these horns had the addition of an altissimo F# key - the only SML models to have them - and all of the last few SML horns appear to be Marigaux! (Note that the Marigaux engraving also seems to change around s/n 24xxx and no longer mentions SML.)
Please also note that the King Marigaux baritone and sopranos parallel the SML baris and sopranos in another way: their design is mostly "Rev. D".
For other SML Stencils, please go HERE.