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  • El Presidente changed the title to FOH Columbo's? How long did this date code format last?
Posted
22 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I always assumed this was a distributor/retailer stamp. 

I am not quite sure? 

Alex might jump in once he has stopped packing books for Oz delivery :D

Posted

Wish I knew.

I would say mid-1960s until late 1970s.

It is definitely not universal. Anecdotally mostly on RyJ, although nowhere near every box from that period. Never been able to find any commonality with a particular distributor's tax stramps or anything. Appears in a few different fonts.

Have also observed that they don't entirely line up with MRN's dating via the Hecho en Cuba stamps - sometimes they are later than you expect which makes sense if it's a distributor stamp, but sometimes they are earlier so either he is wrong about the dates the different stamps came into effect, or it's not actually a date stamp, or I don't know what.

R&J Londers 3-74 (2).jpg

R&J Julietas 69-11 (2).jpg

R&J Celestiales Finos 7 65 (3).jpg

Made in Havana-Cuba 12-66 Henry Clay Diamantinos.jpg

R&J Cazadores 7-69 (2).jpg

R&J Plateados de Romeo 9-73 (4).jpg

Sancho Panza 12-77 (2).jpg

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Posted
2 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I always assumed this was a distributor/retailer stamp. 

I assumed the same given that I think some distributors/vendors would write the date on the boxes in pencil (pen?) when they received them.

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  • JohnS changed the title to FOH Columbos? How long did this date code format last?
Posted
9 hours ago, Bijan said:

I assumed the same given that I think some distributors/vendors would write the date on the boxes in pencil (pen?) when they received them.

There are 10 boxes pictured so far in this thread.

Six of them have Spanish tax seals and/or import stamps.

Three have no importer stamps. Don't know what that means, but it should mean not Spanish as they should always have the tax seals at least.

One appears to have a different importer stamp. Maybe France or Belgium?

This sample is approximately consistent with what I have observed over the years. I would also add that maybe 10% or less of 60s or 70s boxes have these stamps.

So, I don't think it's an importer date. If it's a date from the factory it is maybe a QC stamp or something. I don't think it's a general manufacture date.

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