Ken: Came across your thread while researching something else, so I'm a bit late to the party. I too am and "old guy" (I prefer "experienced") who likes older varieties.
My first job out of college was at Stewart's for just over 6 years (1975-1981) here in Southern California. Fred Stewart died in 1972 at age 88, so if your friend got a division of Pamela Hetherington 'Coronation' from Stewart's, it was probably from Ernest Hetherington, the company president. However, it would have been highly unusual and most unlikely for Ernest to release a division of a plant before a patent was secured as doing so could jeopardize the patent approval. If the patent was granted in 1982 as alluded to above, then the meristems would not have been released before then. (I'd have to try to find my old catalogs from that period to see.) So it's almost certain your plant is a division from a meristem, not a division of the "mother plant" from which the meristems were generated. Regardless, it's a beautiful thing and I enjoy mine every year. (Everyone needs a big pink "Brasso" if he/she has the room.)
Your last post on plant patent expirations is correct, so you're free to sell or trade extra divisions as noted. I was involved with writing the descriptions for the patent applications for one or two of Stewart's plants while I was there. (Slc. Precious Stones 'True Beauty' was one that comes to mind. Charming little red with a purplish lip. Wish I could find a division of that one.) It's quite a process so nurseries usually reserve it for the best plants from which they can get a suitable return. The process is also a way to keep others from buying a plant and cranking out 1000's of meristems for low prices, thereby undercutting the originator. Stewart's had patented and released meristems of Lc. Puppy Love 'True Beauty' HCC/AOS in the late '70s or so. I remember seeing an ad in the AOS "Bulletin" in the early '80s from a nursery in Taiwan for "Lc. Puppy Love." It listed no varietal name, but they did say it was "a true beauty" and the picture was a dead ringer for the "real thing." So, they probably bought and cloned a meristem of the Stewart's plant, and since they didn't sell it under the full name, but only hinted at the 'True Beauty' connection, and since they were in Taiwan, it wasn't practical to go after them. Yes, there is skullduggery even in the orchid world.
Hope you've been enjoying your plant.
