CrossJunction

As with most collectibles, the date of manufacture of a Zippo lighter often affects its value. Valuable information on the bottom of every Zippo lighter can help you determine its date of manufacture. Most lighters fabricated between 1933 and 1957 can be identified by style and model and the patent or patent-pending marks.

Starting in the mid 50s, date codes were stamped on the bottom. The original purpose was for quality control. The date codes have since become an invaluable tool for Zippo collectors. The appearance of the word “Zippo” in the bottom stamp provides another clue to dating. There have been three major changes, as shown in inset. From 1933 to the mid 50s the word Zippo was stamped in block letters. The Zippo script logo was
developed in the late 40s and was phased-in on the lighter bottom stamp around 1955. In the late 70s the logo was redesigned. It was incorporated into the bottom stamp in 1980.

Zippo Date Codes
1932	PAT. PENDING	This lighter is 2 7/16 inches tall.
1933	PAT. PENDING	This lighter is 2 7/16 inches tall and is made from rectangular brass tubing. The body has square corners and the top, bottom and hinge have been soldered to the body, then chrome plated. It is believed the early model has a plain chrome finish and the later has diagonal lines cut in the upper right and the lower left corner. The insert had a coil spring under the cam and there were 16 holes in the chimney.
1934 1935	PAT. PENDING	This lighter is similar to the 1933 lighter, however the lighter was shortened by 1/4 inch. The lighter still has an outside three barrel hinge. Advertising on the lighters began in 1935.
1936	PAT. PENDING	The lighter still has square corners and square inserts. Zippo switched to a 4-barrel hinge in 1936 instead of a 3-barrel hinge, but the hinge was still on the outside of the case with Patent Pending stamped on the bottom. The Patent 2032695 was issued on March 3rd, 1936. Later in 1936, Zippo placed the hinge on the inside of the lighter case and changed the bottom from Patent Pending to PAT 2032695. The insert also changed from 16 holes in the chimney (eight per side) to 14 (seven per side).
1937	PAT. 2032695
1938 1940	PAT. 2032695	In 1938, Zippo introduced a brass drawn case. The lighter also had a new style leaf spring instead of the coil spring. Machine engraving was introduced in 1940. The lighter still has square insert, but the sides have rounded corners.
1941 1945	PAT. 2032695	Zippo used steel instead of brass and applied chrome plating as a finish due to the material shortage of World War II. In 1942 a "Black Crackle" finish was used to cover the low quality steel surface. The 1942 lighters have a rounded bottom and the cam shape was typically distorted. The 4-barrel was switched to a 3-barrel hinge. The engraving that appeared on the bottom of the lighter also appeared on the insert.
1946	PAT. 2032695	Nickel Silver was used for the case: steel or nickel silver was used for the insert.

1947	PAT. 2032695	Insert had 16 holes.
1948	PAT. 2032695	The base material was changed from nickel silver to brass.
1949	PAT. 2032695	Late in 1949 the 3 barrel-hinge was switched to 5-barrel hinge..
1950	PAT. 2032695	Fully covered leather lighters. Red, blue, green, tan calfskin and English Moroccan were available.
1951	PAT. 2032695	Zippo lighters were manufactured from steel until late 1953 when they returned to chrome plated brass.
1952	PAT. 2517191	Wrap around leather model replaced the fully covered leather lighter.
1953	PAT. 2032695         2517191	New marking of Pat. No. The bottom was changed from PAT.2032695 to PAT.2517191.
1954	PAT. 2517191	Zippo lighter cases returned to chrome plated brass when the Korean war was over.
1955	PAT. 2517191
1956	PAT. 2517191

	Regular		Slim
	Left Side	Right Side	Left Side	Right Side
1957	PAT. 2517191		. . . .	. . . .
1958	PAT. 2517191		. . . .	. . . .
	. . . .	. . . .	. . . .	. . .
1959	. . . .	. . .	. . .	. . .
1960	. . .	. . .	. . .	. .
1961	. . .	. .	. .	. .
1962	. .	. .	. .	.
1963	. .	.	.	.
1964	.	.	.	No Marks
1965	.	No Marks	No Marks	No Marks
1966	| | | |	| | | |	| | | |	| | | |
1967	| | | |	| | |	| | | |	| | |
1968	| | |	| | |	| | |	| | |
1969	| | |	| |	| | |	| |
1970	| |	| |	| |	| |
1971	| |	|	| |	|
1972	|	|	|	|
1973	|	No Marks	|	No Marks
1974	/ / / /	/ / / /	/ / / /	/ / / /
1975	/ / / /	/ / /	/ / / /	/ / /
1976	/ / /	/ / /	/ / /	/ / /
1977	/ / /	/ /	/ / /	/ /
1978	/ /	/ /	/ /	/ /
1979	/	/ /	/ /	/
1980	/	/	/	/
1981	/	No Marks	/	No Marks
1982	\ \ \ \	\ \ \ \	\ \ \ \	\ \ \ \
1983	\ \ \ \	\ \ \	\ \ \ \	\ \ \
1984	\ \ \	\ \ \	\ \ \	\ \ \
1985	\ \ \	\ \	\ \	\ \
1986	\ \	\ \	\ \	\ \
Zippo started using the Roman Numeral in late 1986. This was to indicate what year the lighter was actually manufactured. This was stamped on the bottom of the lighter to the right of the Zippo Logo.
1986	A to L	I I	A to L	I I
1987	A to L	I I I	A to L	I I I
1988	A to L	I V	A to L	I V
1989	A to L	V	A to L	V
1990	A to L	V I	A to L	V I
1991	A to L	V I I	A to L	V I I
1992	A to L	V I I I	A to L	V I I I
1993	A to L	I X	A to L	I X
1994	A to L	X	A to L	X
1995	A to L	X I	A to L	X I
1996	A to L	X I I	A to L	X I I
1997	A to L	X I I I	A to L	X I I I
1998	A to L	X I V	A to L	X I V
1999	A to L	X V	A to L	X V
2000	A to L	X V I	A to L	X V I