US presents. While the information for dating a Zippo is widely available, it isn't that handy to find it all in a single location. This should provide the information to fix a relatively precise date for any Zippo lighter. Slim lighters were first introduced in , with a flat bottom and no date code.
This era presents the most difficult lighters to date. Whilst the base stamps my look similar there are a number of differences to observe. There appears to be some overlap between the base stamps used on these lighters. In researching this page I am indebted to many other collectors who have sent me photographs of lighters in their collections that were factory engraved with a date.
Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner. There are numerous sites around the internet that give dating charts for Zippo Lighters, and there are also dating guides in many of the Zippo Books. Dating lighters made at the Canadian factory is a little more difficult, and often confusing, but with a little detective work, many of the clues are there.
The date coding on Zippo lighters was introduced in late , so lighters made after this date are very easy to identify. Earlier lighters are much more difficult to date accurately. I am going to start with the last undated lighter as this is the easiest to date. This lighter was made between and and is identifiable by what is known as the "Full Stamp".