What do you think it reads?

[nikonNUT]

Good evening, gents. So I find myself trying to decipher a serial number on a Canadian razor and it has proved difficult (mainly due to old eyes ) so I dusted off the point and shoot and engaged the macro mode. Got a super close shot but as feared it's a bit of a mis-strike but, thankfully, not a double strike and there is some corrosion. Anyways, I have my opinion of what the S/N is but I want yours! Here's the image...

So what say you guys? Thank you for the help!

 

[matwho]

BC152355 First letter could be R second letter could be O.

 

[maybe smith]

I blew it up and I think it is definitely BC152355. In the fonts used I believe B and R have a different upper loop, as do the ones I just typed.

 

[Spang]

I think the second figure is not "C", but an incomplete strike of the numeral "0"; resulting in B015235. I assume this is a Gillette razor? If so then I'd bet on the "0" reading of the second figure, since there were no Gillette serial numbers that began with two letters, AFAIK.

 

[tonich]

Have to send it to me for a close inspection!
After all it's a Canadian and has to be in Canada!

 

[imatabor]

I think it is PC.
Check out this thread on Canadian Serial numbers:
Gillette Canada serial numbers
PC seems to mean Pocket Edition

The reason I mention it is because I have a sneaking suspicion that the "PC" prefix on the Pocket Editions and the "C" prefix on the inner barrels of Single Rings like the "10286" one you mentioned above may have been an earlier series all their own before they restarted with non-prefixed serial numbers. If that's the case you'd want to sort them separately from each other.


I'm still rooting through things here, but I've pulled out three different Canadian Pocket Editions, all with the thin-handled ball-end razors (they're something of a weakness of mine). Here's their breakdown:

Prefix	Serial Number	Description
PC	06227	Thin-handled ball end, no stamping on bottom of guard plate, ABC-style cap studs, punched-down collar, latch-closure basketweave case w/ patent dates on bottom, gold Gillette diamond label
PC	63959	Thin-handled ball end, no stamping on bottom of guard plate, ABC-style cap studs, punched-down collar, four-rivet plain case w/ patent numbers on bottom, Gillette diamond label missing
	404543	Thin-handled ball end; "Made in Canada" (left) and large Gillette diamond (right) stamped on guard plate; bullet-style cap studs; punched-up collar; thick, no-rivet floral case w/ nothing on bottom; silver Gillette diamond label

Sorry for the lack of photos, but I'm dealing with a hard drive failure on my main computer here at home so I'm slumming it on my work laptop while I get that dealt with.

 

[nikonNUT]

I think it is PC.
Check out this thread on Canadian Serial numbers:
Gillette Canada serial numbers
PC seems to mean Pocket Edition

I should have mentioned this one is a Bulldog. I got the Canadian part in but was to late to edit in the Bulldog part. Mea Culpa...

 

[imatabor]

I should have mentioned this one is a Bulldog. I got the Canadian part in but was to late to edit in the Bulldog part. Mea Culpa...

Maybe they had big pockets in Canada?
@MacDaddy did some digging around with Canadian serial numbers maybe he has information?

 

[miguel]

BC152355

 

[romsitsa]

Hello,

I guess BC, all Canadian Bulldogs I saw had a B.

Adam

 

[KeenDogg]

I blew it up and I think it is definitely BC152355. In the fonts used I believe B and R have a different upper loop, as do the ones I just typed.

That's what I see.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[BSAGuy]

BC152355

 

[FarmerTan]

BR549

 

[nikonNUT]

BR549

I agree with the BC152355 consensus. I thank you all for the help and the laughs!

 

[Billski]

I go along with Spang.

He sounds like an authority.

And he has that cowboy avatar.

 

[MacDaddy]

Very interesting. It would seem to be more "normal" (from the relatively small sample we've seen so far) for Canadian Bulldogs to be prefixed with "BD," but nothing's set enough to be a hard and fast rule here. In any case, I'd say it definitely does look like a "BC" prefix there, and we know that the Canadians definitely did use two-letter prefixes at various times. A partially struck zero there would actually be far more remarkable than a double-letter prefix, in that regard, since that would make this a seven-digit serial which, so far as I know, is unheard of.

 

[Zipslack]

I'm going with "BC" because the bottom part of the B has a different shape than what I would expect from an R. On the C, there's a definite stop on the top part that is much higher up than where the other numbers fade out.

 

[nikonNUT]

Thanks again, gents. I appreciate you youngsters sharp eyes!

Very interesting. It would seem to be more "normal" (from the relatively small sample we've seen so far) for Canadian Bulldogs to be prefixed with "BD," but nothing's set enough to be a hard and fast rule here. In any case, I'd say it definitely does look like a "BC" prefix there, and we know that the Canadians definitely did use two-letter prefixes at various times. A partially struck zero there would actually be far more remarkable than a double-letter prefix, in that regard, since that would make this a seven-digit serial which, so far as I know, is unheard of.

MacDaddy,
I don't know if it helps but this is the razor that came out of that French Touriste set. It lacks any markings under the comb so perhaps it is slightly older (earlier in the run) than the BD serial numbered ones? TBH I've never seen another Canadian Bulldog up close so for all I know they all lack the "Made in..." and Gillette logo on the underside of the comb. I honestly don't know.

 

[MacDaddy]

MacDaddy,
I don't know if it helps but this is the razor that came out of that French Touriste set. It lacks any markings under the comb so perhaps it is slightly older (earlier in the run) than the BD serial numbered ones? TBH I've never seen another Canadian Bulldog up close so for all I know they all lack the "Made in..." and Gillette logo on the underside of the comb. I honestly don't know.

It would be perfectly normal for the older Canadian razors to lack anything else on the head. Does your barrel carry the two-line inscription with "BULL-DOG" as well as the patent date?

 

[nikonNUT]

It would be perfectly normal for the older Canadian razors to lack anything else on the head. Does your barrel carry the two-line inscription with "BULL-DOG" as well as the patent date?

Yes, sir!