I play a Zephyr tenor #173000, the engraving is excellent on these older Zephyrs. The early super 20's were identical to the Zephyrs but were nicely decorated. I partially agree that some of the modern horns have better ergonomics than the King Zephyrs, but none have that famous King Zephyr sound.
What Can Serial Numbers Tell Me?
The main thing you learn from serial numbers is the age of the instrument of course. Although the dates in these charts are reasonably accurate, there may be some discrepancies for various reasons. Here are a few things to bear in mind:
- Sometimes a company may hold back a batch of instruments and then release them a couple of years later.
- The production of old and new models can overlap, or in some cases features of a new model appear on the later batch of the previous model. This can lead to what we call transitional models, which have some new and some old features. A famous example would be the early 30s Conn instruments.
- Many companies make other instruments, not just saxophones and the serial numbers are spread over their entire range. So saxophones may not be numbered sequentially.
- Serial numbers can be used to identify supposedly “better” instruments. It is sometimes (possible erroneously) supposed that five digit MKVIs are the best. Or you want to play a horn with a number that is close to your idol’s saxophone.
![Saxophone Saxophone](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126261824/698059555.jpg)
Why do people sometimes mask the last three digits of a serial number?
When advertising an instrument for sale, you will often see the serial number referred to as 36xxxx. It is rumoured that there is a scam, by which somebody who acquires your serial number can then claim the instrument is theirs. This may just be paranoia as I have never heard of this happening, nor can I understand how it could happen.
Ideally you should have a record of the serial number with your sales receipt and won your insurance details.
A serial number can of course be used to identify a stolen instrument. If a seller does hide part of the number you may wonder if they are trying to hide the fact that it is stolen. In most cases the reason is for the one stated above, but it is always worth checking when buying an instrument. Ask the seller privately for the number and do a search for that instrument. If it has been stolen recently, the legal owner may have registered it with an online database of stolen saxophones.
Vintage Buescher, Conn, Martin, King & Selmer Serial Numbers
There are quite a few saxophone serial number charts on the internet, these ones have mostly been adapted from existing manufacturers’ and saxophone enthusiasts’ charts.
I will be adding more soon, as well as checking for accuracy and updating these with more historical and instrument information.
Buescher
Serial Number | Year of Manufacture |
True Tone | |
5000 | 1905 |
11250 | 1910 |
25103 | 1915 |
61255 | 1920 |
175275 | 1925 |
Aristocrat | |
255250 | 1930 |
269000 | 1935 |
Big B & 400 Series | |
291000 | 1940 |
303000 | 1945 |
332000 | 1950 |
350000 | 1955 |
360000 | 1960 |
381000 | 1963 |
Company acquired by Selmer | |
408818 | 1965 |
520000 | 1970 |
630000 | 1975 |
785000 | 1980 |
875000 | 1983 |
Conn
Serial Number | Year of Manufacture |
Wonder | |
9600 | 1905 |
10800 | 1906 |
12000 | 1907 |
13000 | 1908 |
15400 | 1909 |
17800 | 1910 |
21200 | 1911 |
22500 | 1912 |
25000 | 1913 |
30000 | 1914 |
35000 | 1916 |
40000 | 1917 |
50000 | 1919 |
58000 | 1920 |
64000 | 1921 |
83000 | 1922 |
101775 | 1923 |
124600 | 1924 |
New Wonder ( | |
145400 | 1925 |
167900 | 1926 |
193450 | 1927 |
209250 | 1928 |
224600 | 1929 |
237800 | 1930 |
Transitional | |
244700 | 1931 |
249230 | 1932 |
256501 | 1933 |
M Series ( | |
260000 | 1934 |
263500 | 1935 |
271000 | 1936 |
278000 | 1937 |
Connqueror | |
284000 | 1938 |
285000 | 1939 |
288300 | 1940 |
295250 | 1941 |
304500 | 1942 |
309250 | 1943 |
309300 | 1944 |
310200 | 1945 |
314000 | 1946 |
320000 | 1947 |
Connstellation – Rolled tone holes discontinued | |
327150 | 1948 |
332150 | 1949 |
337250 | 1950 |
341850 | 1951 |
341851 | 1952 |
354742 | 1953 |
359251 | 1954 |
500001 | 1955 |
571750 | 1956 |
652002 | 1957 |
718626 | 1958 |
779657 | 1959 |
Production moved to Mexico | |
834200 | 1960 |
898556 | 1961 |
949465 | 1962 |
C00501 | 1963 |
C73854 | 1964 |
E54106 | 1965 |
H31247 | 1966 |
K35274 | 1967 |
L20454 | 1968 |
Martin
Serial Number | Serial Number | Year |
17221 | 1919 | |
19482 | 1920 | |
19933 | 1921 | |
23781 | 1921 | |
29942 | 1922 | |
34838 | 1923 | |
40644 | 1924 | |
48489 | 152342 | 1925 |
54853 | ||
67852 | 162852 | 1926 |
172051 | ||
79254 | 1927 | |
86687 | 1928 | |
*192536 | 1027 | 1929 |
1st digit dropped | ||
98324 | 2982 | 1930 |
101622 | 7119 | 1931 |
105096 | 1932 | |
106546 | 1933 | |
108301 | 1934 | |
10758 | 111253 | 1935 |
14526 | 116551 | 1936 |
15396 | 118038 | 1937 |
18861 | 126998 | 1938 |
20563 | 132070 | 1939 |
23231 | 136040 | 1940 |
24572 | 140199 | 1941 |
26643 | 144455 | 1942 |
145322 | 1943 | |
1944 | ||
145352 | 1945 | |
154289 | 1946 | |
161520 | 1947 | |
165326 | 1948 | |
170395 | 1949 | |
172215 | 1950 | |
172449 (first Imperial) | ||
175140 | 1951 | |
41693 | 179317 | 1952 |
45824 | 183125 | 1953 |
49586 | 187614 | 1954 |
193747 | 1955 | |
56162 | 196213 | 1956 |
66719 | 203809 | 1957 |
66727 | 201917 | 1958 |
70988 | 205377 | 1959 |
76224 | 209089 | 1960 |
81885 | 211675 | 1961 |
87850 | 213999 | 1962 |
218855 | 1963 |
Selmer
Serial Number | Year of Manufacture |
Modele 22 | |
750 | 1922 |
Modele 26 | |
4450 | 1926 |
10000 | 1929 |
Cigar Cutter (Super Sax) | |
12000 | 1930 |
14000 | 1931 |
17000 | 1932 |
18000 | 1933 |
Radio Improved | |
19000 | 1934 |
20000 | 1935 |
Balanced Action | |
22000 | 1936 |
24000 | 1937 |
25000 | 1938 |
27000 | 1939 |
30000 | 1940 |
33000 | 1947 |
Super Action | |
35000 | 1948 |
37000 | 1949 |
40000 | 1950 |
43000 | 1951 |
46000 | 1952 |
50000 | 1953 |
52000 | 1954 |
Mark VI | |
57000 | 1955 |
62000 | 1956 |
66000 | 1957 |
71000 | 1958 |
76000 | 1959 |
81000 | 1960 |
90000 | 1961 |
94000 | 1962 |
103000 | 1963 |
110000 | 1964 |
120000 | 1965 |
129000 | 1966 |
137000 | 1967 |
149000 | 1968 |
160000 | 1969 |
171000 | 1970 |
182000 | 1971 |
192000 | 1972 |
204000 | 1973 |
218000 | 1974 |
231000 | 1975 |
Mark VII | |
243000 | 1976 |
256000 | 1977 |
272000 | 1978 |
282000 | 1979 |
300000 | 1980 |
327300 | 1981 |
Super Action 80 | |
340200 | 1982 |
353800 | 1983 |
366400 | 1984 |
378800 | 1985 |
391000 | 1986 |
Super Action 80 II | |
406000 | 1987 |
KING
5000 | 1915 |
78500 | 1925 |
126000 | 1930 |
161000 | 1935 |
220000 | 1940 |
275000 | 1945 |
305000 | 1950 |
340000 | 1955 |
370000 | 1960 |
406500 | 1965 |
457500 | 1970 |
511500 | 1975 |
Despite purchasing all of the assets of the Adolphe Sax Company in 1928, Selmer did not start selling saxophones bearing the Adolphe Sax name until 1931. The last Adolphe Sax saxophone recorded in the Selmer Paris archives was sold in 1944. Its likely that production of Adolphe Sax instruments ceased at the onset of WWII sometime after May of 1940. Any Adolphe Sax instrument sold after this date was most likely already made or assemble from pre-existing parts. For example, the record shows that all of the recorded Adolphe Sax instrument sales between 1940-1941 were from instruments already manufactued between 1931-36.
There is a fairly detailed record of these instruments recorded in a log book in the Selmer archives in Paris up to 1936 through serial number ~1364. The record is much less complete after 1936. Instruments manufactured after 1936 range in serial number from ~1350-3600. The log book shows the serial numbers jumping around quite a bit for the Selmer/Adolphe Sax saxophones. Even so, its possible from this record to assemble a basic serial number chart for these instruments. Some instruments were stamped H. Selmer and some were not. All were stamped Adolphe Sax 84 Rue Myrha. By comparing early verses later instruments, it becomes clear that some Adolphe Sax Selmer saxophones were assembled from the old Adolphe Sax tooling and other were put togther using parts and tooling from the Selmer St. Louis Gold Metal model instruments.
There is a fairly detailed record of these instruments recorded in a log book in the Selmer archives in Paris up to 1936 through serial number ~1364. The record is much less complete after 1936. Instruments manufactured after 1936 range in serial number from ~1350-3600. The log book shows the serial numbers jumping around quite a bit for the Selmer/Adolphe Sax saxophones. Even so, its possible from this record to assemble a basic serial number chart for these instruments. Some instruments were stamped H. Selmer and some were not. All were stamped Adolphe Sax 84 Rue Myrha. By comparing early verses later instruments, it becomes clear that some Adolphe Sax Selmer saxophones were assembled from the old Adolphe Sax tooling and other were put togther using parts and tooling from the Selmer St. Louis Gold Metal model instruments.