How to Find Your Saxophone’s Serial Number (and Figure Out What Year It Was Made)

Your saxophone’s serial number is a bit like its birth certificate. It can tell you roughly when the horn was made and help confirm that it is what the engraving says. Here’s where to find it, how to photograph it, and how to date horns from the major makers.

Where Is the Serial Number on a Saxophone?

Back of the body, below the thumb rest

Start here. Turn the sax around and look at the back of the body tube, just below the thumb rest and above the bottom bow. On most horns, including Selmer Paris and vintage Conns, you’ll find a stamped block there with the serial number. It often includes patent numbers, a country of origin, and letters for the model or pitch too. Yamaha says its model and serial numbers are engraved at the bottom of the straight body section, on the back.

Lower on the body or on the bell

If it isn’t under the thumb rest, check lower on the body near the bow and bell brace, and look at the bell. Henri Selmer Paris notes that its serials are stamped “on the bell or on the body.”

The neck

Many necks carry their own number. It won’t date the horn, but note whether it matches the body. On collectible horns, an original matching neck is a real plus, and a neck number far from the body number suggests a replacement.

How to Photograph Your Serial Number Clearly

• Use soft daylight and no flash. Flash glare washes out stamped digits.
• Angle the light. Tilt the horn so light skims across the stamp at a low angle. The shadows make worn digits readable.
• Get close and focus on the digits. Take a few shots.
• Include the whole stamp block. Letters next to the serial (like “L,” “M,” or a model number) help identify the horn.
• Add context. Take one wider shot, a close-up of any neck number, and a straight-on side profile of the neck so pull-down damage is easy to spot.

How to Date Your Saxophone by Brand

Charts are compiled from factory records and collectors’ data, so treat every date as approximate, especially near the boundary between two years.

Selmer Paris

Selmer Paris used one serial sequence for every size, so the number gives you the year, not whether it’s an alto or a tenor. Approximate ranges from Saxophone.org and Conn-Selmer:

• Balanced Action: about 20,101–35,800 (1935–1947)
• Super Balanced Action: about 33,000–55,200 (1946–1954; charts disagree on the exact start)
• Mark VI: from 55,201 (1954). Altos and tenors run to roughly 231,000–233,900 (1974). Sopranos and baritones continued as Mark VIs into the 300,000s.
• Mark VII: about 233,901–303,100 (1975–1980), with overlap at the changeover
• Super Action 80: starts around 1980–81 (charts list 303,101 or 315,501), with Series II from 378,801 (1986)

Even Selmer’s “official” chart can be a year or so off for a given horn. At a model changeover, the keywork and engraving decide which model you have. For what these years mean in dollars, see our Selmer Mark VI value guide. Henri Selmer Paris also has its own serial number page.

Selmer USA and Bundy

Don’t use the Paris chart for a horn made in Elkhart, Indiana. Bundys from about 1938–1960 follow an Elkhart/Buescher-made chart. From around 1960, Bundys used Buescher serial numbers. Selmer bought Buescher in 1963, and published Buescher charts only run to about 875,000 (1983). Later Bundy II and Selmer USA horns have no reliable public chart.

Yamaha

Yamaha doesn’t publish a simple serial-to-year chart, and collectors report that serials run by model rather than in one sequence. So the digits alone won’t reliably date a Yamaha. Contact Yamaha support with the exact model and serial number, or narrow it down by model. A YAS-21 alto, for example, is a 1970s horn that was replaced by the YAS-23 around 1980.

Conn (including “M” and “N” prefixes)

Conn-Selmer publishes an official Conn chart. Read the letters first:

• “M” on older Conns just means “saxophone.” In a stamp like T M205183 L, “T” is tenor, 205183 is the serial (1927), and “L” is low pitch (SaxPics explains).
• Letter prefixes from 1963–1972 (C, E, H, K, L, M, N, P, R) are part of the serial. On Conn’s chart, an “M” prefix is 1969 and “N” is 1970.
• Watch for mix-ups. “M” plus six digits is usually a 1920s–30s horn, not a 1969 one. And per research by Stock Instrument Repair, “N”-prefixed Conn sax serials ran from 1970 into the late 1980s, so “N” doesn’t automatically mean 1970.

King (H.N. White)

Conn-Selmer’s King chart dates horns in five-year bands (for example, 305,001–340,000 is 1950–1955). Saxophone.org breaks it down year by year for the Zephyr and Super 20.

Martin and Buescher

Saxophone.org has model-by-model charts for both. For Martin, the Handcraft starts around 17,721 (1919) and “The Martin” runs about 145,352–218,854 (1945–1963). For Buescher, the chart covers the True Tone through the Aristocrat and 400, plus the Selmer-owned years from about 381,000 (1963).

Yanagisawa

According to SaxPics, on pre-1980 horns the third and fourth digits are the year, so 12,729,030 points to 1972. From 1980, Yanagisawa used a sequential chart starting around 102,143.

Keilwerth

SaxPics has an approximate Keilwerth chart, with points like 69,000 (1971), 91,000 (1986), and 109,000 (1998).

Taiwan and China stencil horns

Many modern Asian-made saxes are “stencils,” built in one factory and sold under many brand names. There are no reliable public charts for these, and even specialists say it’s nearly impossible to tell who made a modern stencil. Skip the dating and just send good photos.

Common Pitfalls

• Patent numbers. Conn’s “PATD. DEC. 8, 1914 1119954” is a tone hole patent, not a serial. Selmer also stamped long patent numbers near the serial.
• Model numbers. “6M,” “10M,” “AS500,” and “YAS-62” name the model, not the year.
• Stencils. The name on the bell doesn’t always tell you who made the horn.
• Worn or buffed stamps. Wear or relacquering can make a 3 look like an 8. Use angled light and send a photo instead of guessing.
• “L” vs. “H” pitch marks. On older Conns, “L” means low pitch (modern A=440) and “H” means high pitch (about A=457). High-pitch horns can’t play in tune with modern instruments.

Why the Serial and Year Matter for Value

The serial confirms what your horn is and when it was made. As Henri Selmer Paris puts it, saxophones from certain periods can be considered rarer and more valuable. It also helps spot fakes. A “Mark VI” with a serial outside the Mark VI range is a red flag.

But condition matters most. Two horns with nearly the same serial can sell for very different prices. Dents, repairs, a relacquer, worn pads, neck pull-down, or a replacement neck can outweigh a “good” year.

FAQ

Does the serial number tell me if it’s an alto or a tenor?

Usually not. Selmer Paris, for example, used one sequence for every size.

Can I use the Selmer Paris chart for my Bundy or Selmer USA?

No. U.S.-made Selmer and Bundy horns use different numbering, so the Paris chart will give you the wrong year.

My Conn serial starts with “M.” Is it from 1969?

Not necessarily. “M” plus six digits is usually a 1920s–30s Conn, where M just means saxophone. “M” plus five digits fits the 1969 prefix.

I can’t read my serial number. Now what?

Try angled light and several close-ups. If it’s still unclear, send photos of the engraving and keywork too. They can still help identify the horn.

Send Us Your Serial Number for a Free Offer

You don’t have to work out the year yourself. Brian Seltz at Cash4Sax in Jacksonville, Florida, has been buying used saxophones by mail from sellers nationwide since 2007.

1. Send photos: a close-up of the serial number, a straight-on side profile of the neck (for pull-down damage), and a few overall shots.
2. Tell us about it: its condition and whether it has a case (and if the case is original).
3. Get an offer based on recent sales of comparable horns.
4. Ship it with a prepaid UPS or USPS label, and get paid by PayPal or Venmo.

In the Jacksonville area? Local pickup is available.

Fill out the Sell My Saxophone form, email cash4sax@gmail.com, or text (SMS only) 904-472-3130.