steelbikeguy they went to a nickel plated rivet some time ago. I have a B17 that was new in 2016 ( came on a bike I bought) and it has these rivets , although mine are still shiny. Nice Raleigh , by the way!

I noticed that as well when I got it. I still like the copper ones from the earlier saddles . My friend bought a Team Professional a few years ago that still came with the large hammered copper rivets. He said when he ordered it that the standard Professional was not available on the web site.