Amp dating / National
National amp dating
Enter the code or serial from your National amplifier and we read it against National’s own scheme to tell you the year it was built.
6 code formats
Can't read a digit? Type ? in its place. Looked-up serials are kept, never tied to you. How it works
Your answer appears here
Type the serial or code from the instrument. We read it as you type.
Example National serials and how they read
Made-up serials in each of National’s formats, read by the dater above.
| Serial | Reads as | Format |
|---|---|---|
| X12345 | 1952 | Back-plate serial (X prefix, 1951-1958) |
| V21234 | 1949 | Back-plate serial (V prefix, 1947-1951) |
| T12345 | 1959 | Back-plate serial (T prefix, 1958-1963) |
| G31234 | 1964 | Back-plate serial (G prefix, 1962-1964) |
How National amps date
- Back-plate serial (V prefix, 1947-1951)
- Back-plate serial (X prefix, 1951-1958)
- Back-plate serial (T prefix, 1958-1963)
- Back-plate serial (G prefix, 1962-1964)
- Back-plate serial (1 prefix, 1965-1968)
- Back-plate serial (2 prefix, 1968)
More on National amp codes
When the serial has no date
Where the serial cannot give a year, the transformer and speaker carry a date code that can. The pot and speaker code reader decodes it. This is one of the amps the amp dater covers.