4516-1 Serial Number Question

[petevig]

Need help on a S/N question.
I just took delivery on a used 4516-1, no box.
I am curious about the serial number which can either be TVBIxxx or TVB1xxx.
It clearly is a stamped capital "I" and not a "1" and is in the fourth position of the S/N.
On all my other S&W 3rd gens, ones (1) are clearly a number 1 with the serif at the top but no "foot" at the bottom.
I do not have any guns that use the letter "I" in the first three letters of the serial number, or for the actual number in place of ones (1).
This is the first occasion where the stamped character looks like an I and not a one.
Does anyone have similar experience or knowledge in this regard?
Thanks in advance. Pete

 

[deanodog]

My 4516-1 has three letters and four numbers..
.......TVB28xx.....I've never seen one with four letters.

 

[Gunhacker]

Mis-stamped serial numbers, even duplicate ones, have slipped out of the factory.

The explanation I've heard and read is the stamp has wheels like a combination lock, and the press operator has to manually index the wheel to the next number in the SN sequence.

Could very well be that an 'I' was mistaken for a '1' by the operator.

Duplicate SN's have resulted from a wheel not being advanced for the next gun.

 

[Big Lou]

Neat lil guns.

The "book" says yours has a birth day in 1991 BTW.

Congrats!

 

[petevig]

Big Lou....Thank you.
Always nice to know when they were born.
is there a place I can submit other serial numbers for their birthdays?
pete

 

[4516 guy]

ANY IDEA WHEN A 4516-1 WITH A SERIAL # OF TED92XX WAS MADE?

THANKS IN ADVANCE.

 

[m37ral]

How do you know a 4516 from a 4516-1? Mine says 4516, sn TCP20xx