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Here are the years that Raleigh took over various
3-speed companies.
Humber 1932
Rudge-Whitworth 1943
Triumph 1954
BSA 1957
Phillips 1960
Hercules 1960
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Dating Your Raleigh 3-speed Bicycle
If your bicycle has a Sturmey-Archer hub (c1903-1990s),
it should have on the hub a date of manufacture, which would
normally also be the cycle's date of manufacture. It may
also be possible to date your bicycle from its frame
number which on early models is usually located underneath
the seat lug, under the saddle. This only applies to a
genuine Raleigh, not to other makes. The list below will
help with dating your Raleigh bicycle from the frame numbers,
but is not a definitive list, it simply notes occasional
frame numbers that coincide with certain years of manufacture.
Raleigh Bicycles 1888-1925
--------------------------
From frame number located under saddle
Prior to 1925, genuine Raleighs (not necessarily brand names
made by Raleigh) had a straight forward numerical frame number.
Early years have been estimated by the Company.
1888 1500 1907 183073
1889 3200 1908 215650
1890 5200 1909 249081
1891 7600 1910 285669
1892 10500 1911 328748
1893 13900 1912 375693
1894 19100 1913 427829
1895 25300 1914 482851
1896 32100 1915 517198
1897 39913 1916 545198
1898 45981 1917 569737
1899 54032 1918 592473
1900 65152 1919 621678
1900 69868 1920 654502
1901 77342 1921 688291
1902 89622 1922 738447
1903 102954 1923 809184
1904 112673 1924 899465
1905 129228 1925 998077
1906 154917
Raleigh Bicycles 1925-Second War
--------------------------------
Between 1925 and the cessation of cycle production during the
Second World War, letters prefixed or suffixed the running
frame number although no indication is given of the starting
point of the numbers. They seem to reflect only the
number of machines produced whilst each letter was in use.
All dating would therefore be approximate.
1925 A1
1925 B34181
1926/27 B56536
1929 E15693
1930 G94785
1933 L84682
1934 T93945
1934 U14540
1935 W71147
1936 W93161
1937 Y184552
Raleigh Bicycles Post Second War - 1966
---------------------------------------
After the war, Raleigh began adding letters after the
running number series which restarted when a new letter
was used.
1947 437689 P
1948 556894 P
1949 695051 P
1951 151179 T
1952 236530 T
1953 367369 T
1954 566722 T
1955 747951 T
1956 852312 T
1957 872584 T
A new numbering system was introduced in 1955, though this
ran concurrently with the old one for two years. The new
system involved a second running letter, added to the first,
which began at the start of the alphabet.
1956 23839 A
1957 27227 AB
1958 17910 AD
1960 27273 AE
1961 13126 AF
1965/6 40814 FD
1966 64521 FE
from Nottinghamshire Archives, 1994
Compiled by "Jim B." of New Hampshire