Dating Carltons.

Frame numbers.

Please treat these dates as a guide only. Some dates are a year out. I am hoping that another enthusiast will update this page for me.

Early frame numbers were prefixed with a letter. They were stamped on the left side rear dropout. The following is a list compiled from various sources and is probably not 100% accurate. If anyone can provide more accurate information, it would be very welcome.

A 1939	F 1957-58	L 1963
B 1940-48	G 1959	M 1964
C 1948-52	H 1960	S 1965
D 1953-54	J 1961	T 1966
E 1955-56	K 1962	Y 1967

(This series of letters needs revision. With more frames identified it is clear that in the 1950's a single prefix letter was used for several years. In the 1960's, as production increased to meet demand, more than one letter was used per year. For example, E seems to be more relevant to 1957-1958. I need to reinterpret the data I have to try and clarify this.)

From 1968 to 1972 two numbering systems were used. The majority of models had simple numbers, up to seven digits, sometimes with leading zeros, stamped on the left rear dropout, at the top of the seat tube to the rear or under the bottom bracket. I do not have sufficient data to analyse these numbers and relate them to specific years.

Some models, the Professional and Giro d'Italia models have been identified, had a letter and numbers. I am aware of bikes with D, F and G. My initial view is that D was 1968-69, E was 1969-70, F was 1970-71 and G was 1971-72, when the numbers changed to the new scheme.

From 1973 the numbers were in the form WP5000123 where:

W = Worksop (Carlton)

P = month of manufacture

A = January	G = May	M = September
B = February	H = June	N = October
D = March	K = July	P = November
E = April	L = August	S = December

The next digit indicates year of manufacture; 3 for 1973, 4 for 1974, 5 for 1975, etc.

The remaining numbers were sequential. The numbers were usually stamped under the bottom bracket. Obviously this system would lead to duplicate numbers every 10th year.

Note: the last cycles were made at Worksop in May 1981 and would thus have been WG1xxxxxx, however Raleigh continued to use the W prefix for Nottingham built Carltons for several more years.

(The full information including all other sources of Raleigh bikes can be found on the Retro-Raleighs website.)

Williams chainsets.

Another possible source of dating are the Williams chainsets fitted to many Carltons, which may provide a clue. The following information was obtained from the Classic Rendezvous website.

Williams components are all marked with a letter or two letters to indicate the season of manufacture which ran from 1st July to 30th June until 1923. The season then ran from 1st August to 31st July thereafter. This list is taken from what appears to be official Williams literature...                                                                                                         Hilary Stone
1912/13 A 1914 B 1915 C 1916 D 1917 E 1918/1919 probably E 1920 F 1921 G 1922 H 1923 I 1924 J 1925 K 1926 L 1927 M 1928 N 1929 O 1930 P 1931 S 1932 T 1933 U 1934 W 1935 X	1936 Y 1937 Z 1938 AA 1939 AB 1940 AC 1941 AD 1942 AE 1943 AF 1944 AG 1945 AH 1946 AI 1947 AJ 1948 AK 1949 Al 1950 AM 1951 AN 1952 AP 1953 AS 1954 AT 1955 AU 1956 AW 1957 AX 1958 AY	1959 AZ 1960 ZA 1961 ZB 1962 ZC 1963 ZD 1964 ZE 1965 ZF 1966 ZG 1967 ZH 1968 ZI 1969 ZJ 1970 ZK 1971 ZL 1972 ZM 1973 ZN 1974 ZP 1975 ZS 1976 ZT 1977 ZU 1978 ZW 1979 ZX 1980 ZY

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