Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/23

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Subject: [Leica] My new M3
From: Nathan Wajsman <nathan.wajsman@euronet.be>
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 14:27:39 +0200
 
Dear LUGgers,

I just received my "new" M3 in the mail, having bought it from a fellow
LHSA member in Germany. It has serial number 985752. I am at the office
now, so I have to wait until I get home before feeding it with film and
testing. In the meantime, though, I have been trying to date it.
According to my Leica Pocket Book, the switch to single stroke occured
in 1958 at serial no. 915251. Still according to the same source,
production figures for the M3 were as follows:

1958  8500
1959  22972
1960  17950
1961  13901
1962  13004

Assuming that all the serial numbers between 915251 and mine are used
for M3's only, the arithmetic implies that my new baby was born in 1962
(two years after me, incidentally). My question to you number mavens is:
can I make such an assumption, and are there more authoritative serial
number listings out there which may be consulted?

TIA.

Nathan