I believe these hold true for Vega Banjos and Mandolins: First Number............Last Number............YEAR 67..............................992............... .....1890 1464............................1638.............. ...1891 .................................................. ........1892 .................................................. ........1893 ....(No information available)....................1894 .................................................. ........1895 .................................................. ........1896 16971.............................?............... .....1897 17021...........................17963............. ..1898 18026...........................18939............. ..1899 19124...........................19993............. ..1900 20107...........................20957............. ..1901 21237...........................21961............. ..1902 22002...........................22897............. ..1903 23071...........................23203............. ..1904 23255...........................23548............. ..1905 23560...........................23969............. ..1906 24092...........................24195............. ..1907 24337...........................24973............. ..1908 25083...........................25986............. ..1909 26023...........................26999............. ..1910 27027...........................27991............. ..1911 28062...........................28930............. ..1912 29029...........................29993............. ..1913 30492...........................30891............. ..1914 31462...........................31711............. ..1915 32290...........................32850............. ..1916 33282...........................33822............. ..1917 34273...........................34759............. ..1918 35017...........................37162............. ..1919 37829...........................39942............. ..1920 40071...........................45235............. ..1921 45608...........................50773............. ..1922 51279...........................56313............. ..1923 56656...........................62248............. ..1924 62419...........................67436............. ..1925 67518...........................72204............. ..1926 73075...........................78371............. ..1927 79025...........................83827............. ..1928 84124...........................87896............. ..1929 89729...........................94716............. ..1930 95374...........................97962............. ..1931 98314...........................98149............. ..1932 From 1933 we have a full sequence of numbers, and thus can date with certainty: First Number ................. Year 98150...........................1933 98185...........................1934 98220...........................1935 98225...........................1936 98290...........................1937 98325...........................1938 98360...........................1939 98395...........................1940 98430...........................1941 98465...........................1942 98500...........................1943 98535...........................1944 98570...........................1945 98605...........................1946 98640...........................1947 98675...........................1948 98710...........................1949 98745...........................1950 98780...........................1951 98820...........................1952 98896...........................1953 98990...........................1954 99067...........................1955 99213...........................1956 99428...........................1957 99582...........................1958 99717...........................1959 100022..........................1960 100560..........................1961 101999..........................1962
Where is the serial number found. I have a model 201 or 202 i believe but haven't found a number.---Lou
Look at the very top EDGE of the peghead...
Down very near the bottom of this page Bob DeVellis has up shows a picture of the headstock and serial number from one mandolin: http://bellsouthpwp.com/r/d/rdevelli...%20Mandola.htm It's the next to the last image on that page. If the link doesn't work well for you, try the version that Eddie has in the third post of the "cylinder backs" thread of this group.
Thanks, i found it with the right light. Mine is 38250 = 1920. I have to say that my instrument does not look any 90 years old. Wish I was aging like that.
Thank you so much for posting this. I spent years trying to find this information. Where did you find these sequences?
Google... and patiently sifting through websites...
I, too, have been looking for this info for a long time and really appreciate finding it here. My serial number is 34869, which appears to be after the last number for 1918 and before the first number for 1919. How does that work?
I've noticed that the ending numbers don't necessarily correspond with the starting number of the following year... Using them as a guideline I'd use the ending number of the previous + 1 as the starting number of a year...
Does anyone have any information about the relevance of these serial numbers to Vega guitars? All the guitar sites I've checked seem to think the guitar serial numbers are a mystery, and that may be true. I have a Vega guitar with a serial number that would date it at 1919 according to the information above. But it has a typical Vega engraved pearl star in peg head with the word "Vega" engraved in the star. My guess from looking at lots of photos of Vega mandolins, banjos, and mandolin banjos is that the word "Vega" was not engraved in the stars until the late 1920s. It's possible they started doing that on guitars earlier, but it's also possible that they used a different serial numbering system for guitars. Any thoughts? Thanks!
