David Sharpe said in 050326 MMDigest:


>> Many later Duo-Art rolls have numbers stamped in green ink at the
>> end of the paper, after the reroll slot.  I assume these are also
>> production dates since duplicate rolls often have different numbers.
>> Some of the numbers from my rolls are: 259, 229, 282, 288, 2510.
>> I interpret the first two digits to be the year and the remaining
>> the month of production.


All the UK Aeolian (Aeolian/Universal/Meloto/Regent) rolls made between
1921 and 1930 used a similar code without the initial 2, followed by
a gap or a hyphen and then three digits which are assumed to be the
batch number, e.g., 210-138, October 1922.  With "popular" rolls whose
batches all occurred at once, these dates tie up well with the implicit
date of issue in catalogues.

After 1930 there would have been confusion so a 3 was added on the
front and the gap or hyphen dispensed with.  This system lasted until
1933 when Universal Music Co who nominally cut the rolls was sold off
by Aeolian.  Post-1933, Universal-cut rolls bear no hint of the cutting
date but some do bear batch numbers.

Dan Wilson, London