A Case A serial number that shouldn't exist?

January 17, 2014, 11:23

John A. Craft

Last week, I purchased a 992b in a Case A with a replacement bow, thinking I'd make it a project. (It has a little more wear than I realized looking at the listing, so I've decided to return it.)

But in looking through Lindell's serial number post, this case is an anomaly:

KEYSTONE-HAMILTON CASE A AND CASE 11 DATABASE EXAMPLES YEAR-BY-YEAR

1937 - 1170000
1940 - 1210000
------- During 1940 they began using a "K-Prefix" -------
1941 - K1310000
1942 - K1360000
------- During 1943 numbering system changed to "K0" -------
1943 - K030000
1944 - K039000
1945 - K041000

The movement serial number is C95132, putting it in the 1944-1945 time frame.

The case serial number is 1364495, with no K prefix.

Are there any other known anomalies to the numbering?

January 18, 2014, 14:00

Lindell V. Riddle

Hello John,

You came across one of the oddities or as you put it anomalies that occurred during a number transition period. We also at times come across numbering errors that were part of the manufacturing process.

During the time-frame you pointed to in 1943 they evidently wanted to shorten Keystone numbers for simplicity. As your unusual example shows there were evidently some cases in between when they were using "K13" and before the "0" replaced the "1" and they dropped digits off the end as well. I have seen a few of these without a "K" prefix in the past but not enough to really understand what the folks at Keystone were trying to accomplish beyond just a shortening their numbers.

Similar things also happened with Wadsworth cases, they changed their numbering system several times over the years and I put "Notes" into those listing to help in sorting it out. It may be worthwhile to drop a note into the Keystone numbers for 1943 to help address what you pointed out.

Thanks for your comments and an interesting addition to the record.

Lindell