serial # tells date?

[Stephen Lind]

i posted this under vintage and got no replies
maybe it isn't pre '45

my new-to-me Harmony Shutt's serial number appears to be 2 stamps
the first one is 202 or 262 or maybe 2C2
the next one is 939

the first 3 digits are a bit askew with the last 3 leading me to think two separate stamps

do these numbers tell me a manufacture date?

[f5loar]

I don't think the vintage scholars of the world have decoded the low end makers like Harmony/Stella/Kay serial nos. if they even have such a code to date their mass production. The best way to date these is by catalog photos and specs. which are not too hard to find.

[MikeEdgerton]

Harmony instruments generally had two stamped numbers. One would be a model number, the other would be a date code. They did not have serial numbers. Look at your numbers again. The Harmony date code was quite simple. They used numbers like W34 for the Winter of 1934, S42 for the Summer of 1942, F50 for the Fall of 1950. I've seen this date code system back as far as 1932 personally and heard about it's use earlier. The earliest harmony made instruments I've seen were guitars made for Sears that had penciled in catalog numbers but no date codes. an "S" can sometimes look like an 8, there are times that the numbers are not completely there and there are times you have to shine a flashlight right to see the numbers.

I have never seen any information on the Kay numbering system although many are marked. The Stella's made by Oscar Schmidt Company as far as I know were unmarked, the later Stella's made by Harmony used the same date coding described above. Keep in mind that the numbers weren't always there.