Yeah, it would be on the early side of the date range, but as you know "earlier" stones dribbled out on occasion. I am wondering whether the stone is original or not. Not a big deal.
You started to see that spacer arrangement on non-leather handles around 1973 or so and it ran until around 1984. I should have been a bit more clear as that was the range for the spacers, not necessarily the date that particular knife. Also, ivorite really didn't come into its own until 1976-77.