The other day I came across an eBay auction for a boxed Excalibur SG7 (version 2), the “7” version. It also included the Instruction sheet, on which I found the date of 9/76, which seems to indicate that the “7” version came out at that time in the US. The previous Instruction sheet for the glossy Excalibur SG7 (version 3) with printed crown had a date of 9/78, which is when those appear to have been released.
The new insert is in the Ads, Instructions and Pamphlets directory of the Pentel Catalogs public directory.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/1jdwt9zfaktmeezrm0nc4/AAZ52J53bqNzEANvcS8HRx4?rlkey=61cjpn1zkcj1pp8mzs8094429&dl=0
I renamed the “old” version of the Instruction sheet from “Instructions - Excalibur v3.pdf” to “Instructions - Excalibur v4 (US 9-78).pdf”, and the new Instruction sheet is “Instructions - Excalibur v3 (US 9-76).pdf”.
These kinds of finds are one of the things I am currently looking for in auctions. Helping to date pencils that do not have dates on them, which this SG7 does not. I suspect that the pencil was manufactured towards the end of 1975, before the JIS requirement for a date.