Lighter guide:
Zippo
The Full guide: Zippo
As with most collectables, the age of an item may have a great influence on its value. This also goes for Zippo Lighters. Whether your lighter was made 5 or 80 years ago can be a difference of hundreds, even thousands of euros. Yes, not kidding. The bottom of every Zippo lighter is stamped with valuable information. From 1933 to 1957 this was the logo (in block letters) with patent or patent-pending marks. From 1957 onwards a date code was stamped on the bottom of every Zippo made, which makes it possible to trace back what year the lighter was produced. From July 1986 the bottom of every Zippo lighter also included a letter for the month it was produced. Since there are some exceptions and special mentions to this system, we at The Lighterhouse made an easy and efficient guide to knowing everything about the age of your Zippo lighter.
Quick find
- Dating your Zippo lighter
- Authenticating (Vietnam) Zippo Lighters
- Maintenance
Dating your Zippo lighter
Since 1958, all Zippo lighters have a date code stamped on the bottom. This code has had many iterations over the years. in chronological order, the date was indicated by dots, vertical lines, slashes (both directions), roman numerals and today’s Arabic numerals throughout the years. Slim Zippo’s had different codes than the regular Zippo’s between 1956 and 1965. Look at the bottom of your lighter and choose between de links, or scroll to see all date codes :).
Dots (1958 - 1965)
PAT. PEND. •••• •••• | 1958 |
| •••• ••• | 1959 |
| ••• ••• | 1960 |
| ••• •• | 1961 |
| •• •• | 1962 |
| •• • | 1963 |
| • • | 1964 |
| • | 1965 |
Vertical Lines (1966 - 1973)
|||| | |||| | 1966 |
| |||| | ||| | 1967 |
| ||| | ||| | 1968 |
| ||| | || | 1969 |
| || | || | 1970 |
| || | | | 1971 |
| | | | | 1972 |
| | | 1973 |
Forward Slash (1974 - 1981)
//// | //// | 1974 |
| //// | /// | 1975 |
| /// | /// | 1976 |
| /// | // | 1977 |
| // | // | 1978 |
| // | / | 1979 |
| / | / | 1980 |
| / | 1981 |
Back Slash (1982 - 1986)
\\\\ | \\\\ | 1982 |
| \\\\ | \\\ | 1983 |
| \\\ | \\\ | 1984 |
| \\\ | \\ | 1985 |
| \\ | \\ | 1986 |
Roman Numerals (1986 - 2000)
G to L | II | 1986 |
| A to L | III | 1987 |
| A to L | IV | 1988 |
| A to L | V | 1989 |
| A to L | VI | 1990 |
| A to L | VII | 1991 |
| A to L | VIII | 1992 |
| A to L | IX | 1993 |
| A to L | X | 1994 |
| A to L | XI | 1995 |
| A to L | XII | 1996 |
| A to L | XIII | 1997 |
| A to L | XIV | 1998 |
| A to L | XV | 1999 |
| A to L | XVI / 2000 | 2000 |
In July 1986 letters were added to the date codes of Zippo lighters corresponding to the month of production.
| A | January |
| B | February |
| C | March |
| D | April |
| E | May |
| F | June |
| G | July |
| H | August |
| I | September |
| J | October |
| K | November |
| L | December |
Arabic Numerals (2000 - Present)
| A to L | XVI / 2000 | 2000 |
| A to L | 01 | 2001 |
| A to L | 02 | 2002 |
| A to L | 03 | 2003 |
| A to L | 04 | 2004 |
| A to L | 05 | 2005 |
| A to L | 10 | 2010 |
| A to L | 20 | 2020 |
Flat Bottom (1956)
| Flat bottom, no date code | 1956 |
Picture coming soon
Dots (1957 - 1965)
| •••• | •••• | 1957 |
| •••• | •••• | 1958 |
| •••• | ••• | |
| ••• | ••• | 1959 |
| ••• | •• | 1960 |
| •• | •• | 1961 |
| •• | • | 1962 |
| • | • | 1963 |
| • | 1964 | |
| 1965 |
