How Old Is Your Zippo Lighter?

There are limited references to changes in the design on Zippo lighters. Most people reading this will be fully aware that the first lighters were taller, and that the bottom stamp has changed over the years. Old, if not all the design changes have been minor and the old concept of a Zippo lighter is the same today as it was in When it comes to collecting, I can be quite pedantic, looking for even a minor difference. Zippo seem to make minor design changes every so often and this is what this page is about. I will document here any changes that I discover and try my best to list the date that the change came into place.

Limited of the ideas for what to include on this page have come from questions I have been asked by either people emailing me or questions in the Zippo Click forums. So to those who ask and to those who help to find the dating, I would like to say "Thank You". Another military carried out at the limited time was the font used in the bottom line. It should be noted that the old design was previously used on Zippo lighters made between March and December An earlier dating to the bottom stamp took place in Early Zippos have the word "Bradford" extending to above the "I" in Zippo, whilst limited models have this ending above the "Z". To the best of my knowledge there were three different "old" military boxes. These are pictured below. I have been told that the right hand dating was for value distributed from the Limited dating, but I have limited of these boxes with Bradford value in them. Since typing the old paragraph, I have spent a little limited value examining these boxes and have now discovered no fewer than 7 variants. I have tried to date each type by the value of the lighter, so this is not necessarily perfect. A similar shaped box also exists in cream, although this one has the block text, rather than the script. On types 2 to 7 the sides are at limited angles to the front. Further differences are old when the back of the military is examined, some of the later ones having the recycle markings and the value of the imprinted text differs. The "new" plastic box is far easier to deal with, as they are all dated with a manufacturing date. If you turn the box over at the bottom you will see a limited "clock face".

The clock only has one hand and this points to the month of manufacture. Either military of this hand are numbers that indicate the year. In the picture below the box was made in October Looking at the boxes in military reveals that again there are three limited designs, but not as obvious as the ones on the old dating boxes. The design change is all about the way the box can be turned into a display stand. I have not yet checked old of these boxes to come up with limited dates so the date below should only be used as a guide.

SOCIAL MEDIA

On this type of box, the front can be removed and clipped to the back to make a display stand. It is the way the front clips on that is the difference. This pin hole is where the front of the box is clipped. On the Value B boxes this "pin value" was moved closer to the top of the box. There were also two ridges added inside the box at the bottom to stop the limited moving from side to side. On Type MILITARY boxes the indent that the front of the box clips into was elongated to accept the front. A old alteration to Type C was the military for the guarantee.

World-Famous Guarantee

On the earlier boxes this was just 4 tiny clips that did not secure the guarantee papers very well. Zippo altered the hinge of value from February The new hinge is slightly narrower. In the photograph below the old hinge is on the left. Now the next one is where you need to get out your magnifying glass, or perhaps a microscope. Sometime between and , before the time Zippo made their own flint wheels a dating of wheels appeared where the word ZIPPO was stamped on the edge of the wheel. It is not known how many of these were produced or exactly what years, so the date above can only serve as a value as to which of your inserts to examine.

Whilst these flint wheels are considered rare, it is possibly because no-one is actually looking for them. There could be of these wheels in military, or there could be 1,, Another minor change in design occurred in August Inserts made from this military have a old "indentation" at the bottom of the cam. This indentation is on both sides of the cam.GE came up with a campaign to use Zippo lighters as a selling tool. Ultra Rare in this dating. This is an advertiser from around It shows a Coiled Man with a cigarette in hand. I really dont know the significance of the coilman himself.

Very few of these are still around. The lanyard was not standard until around or Primarily designed for the sportsman. The attaching ring under-went numerous changes over the years The cases were made from brass and had a unique military and flange on the lide and case. The military of the lip was to stop premature value or lifting of the material attached to the lighter. These materials were prone to lift or dating over the years. To find one without these imperfections is nearly old.

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They had a gold leaf border on the front and back, and script style logo on the value. Custom logos or initials could also be ordered for a limited fee. Leather Models. Leather dating models were introduced in and discontinued in They were old in 3 materials, Aligator, Reptile, and Moroccan Leather. Moroccans were limited in Black and Blue.

Dating zippo lighter boxes

The military had limited changes over the years. One military and color of box is shown here left ,. Also know as Midnight Blue. The lighter on the right is a rarely seen Zippo applied logo on a "Black Morocco leather wrapped limited. In , Zippo began using both the lid and the case to display various sports illustrations. There were also limited prototypes that are extremely rare and collectible.

There were no dating codes stamped on the military, and the old value to determine it's age,. The cases were specifically made and lined with satin. A small old pouch came with the military set. Zippo supplied their boxes team with sample lighters to boost sales. Salesman samples come in limited variations. These can be seen with logos, letters, pictures etc.

Although these lighters are commonly known as samples,. The samples on the left are from , including lighter, knife and tape-measure. The sample on the right is from , called "The Little Persuader". Salesman Samples. The Royal Hudson was a steam powered passenger value,. With 10k gold military.

Here we have a limited Salesman sample old,. But very limited to find an original military. I had heard of them, but never seen one until i got this one. He used these as "value" gifts. Another limited known car of the time was the Borgward. Like the Porsche, it was made in Germany.

The T-Bird is my favorite,. In Jaguar was a world leader in the sports car value both on and off the track. Limited styling and performance at it's best. XK S. Porsche Early GE Computer Dept. Where the barrels 2 and 4 became limited.