Weaver Banjo serial number?

[Jem Bowkett]

My Weaver has the number 1671 stamped on the back of the head.  I've seen pictures of several Weavers but none with a number.  I know it was refurbished in the 1960s at Clifford Essex but Clem tells me they would not have numbered it.  Anyone have a Weaver with a number stamped?

[3iv8pyyhxxoiv]

I need to correct my recent post on this thread.  The number stamped on my CE Special XX is 1463 not 1763.   The "4" stamp is somewhat indistinct and I had misread it as a "7".  Interestingly, I still retain the receipt from the CE Co. for my purchase of this banjo, dated Sept 29th. 1961.  It cost £35 and was described, in A.P.Sharpe's handwriting, as "Clifford Essex XX Special banjo and case No. 1463" . Thus at that time, A.P.Sharpe (at least on this banjo), referred to the stamped no. on the banjos he sold on the receipts he issued.   One might thus infer that these nos. had some significance in the CE Co's records.....but what they meant appears to be uncertain.    My guess is that my banjo was 30-50 years old when I bought it.

[marc dalmasso]

it  looks to be from the first series with these nuts . my guess is  not 30-50  but 60 at least

[3iv8pyyhxxoiv]

Marc....I was referring to my CE Special XX as being 30-50 years old at the time I bought it in 1961. I would agree with you that the Weaver that is the subject of this thread is likely to be older than the Special XX.

[John Cohen]

Weaver was still using those nuts in the Aughts, if not into the Teens.  

[Jem Bowkett]

so, to summarise, the number on my banjo is the job no from the CE overhaul in the 60s, and the instrument is likely to date from the first 20yrs of the 20th century, so it's about 100 yrs old.

[John Cohen]

Correct except that it’s likely 110-120 years old.  

[Richard William Ineson]

Jem Bowkett said:

Photos, be interested in your opinion, Jem

Richard William Ineson said:

I don't know what the number on your Weaver banjo means, I've had a few Weaver banjos with the year of manufacture stamped on them, usually on the perch pole/dowel stick, but occasionally on the top of the peghead - the Joe Morley Weaver sold on Banjo hangout some time ago was so marked. Dating Weaver banjos is difficult as he used more or less the same design over many years. There are differences in the shape of the heel and peghead and also in the metal ware. Weaver didn't make banjos for anyone else after 1906, so all the Weaver banjos made for Essex and others predate this. If you put a few more pictures of the banjo up we'll be able to tell you if it's early or late but that's about it really.

It looks to be an early model judging by the nuts inside the hoop, by 'early' I mean that it could have been made any time between say c1885 and c1900 but it is impossible to be more exact. The 'A.Weaver Maker' mark is an early mark, the late banjos have the mark  'A.Weaver Maker London W.C.'