Martin serial numbers by year

How Martin dating works

Nothing is encoded in a Martin serial. There is no year digit, no factory code and no month — just a single sequence that started at 8,349 in 1898 and has run continuously ever since.

Dating is therefore a range lookup: find which year's block your number falls into. That simplicity is why Martin dating is the most dependable of any major maker, and why this page can show you the entire method in one table.

The complete year table

The boundary caveat

These are year-end totals, not hard cut-off dates. An instrument numbered in the last days of December was frequently completed, shipped or registered the following January.

Where a serial sits close to a boundary, our lookup shows the neighbouring year as an alternative rather than presenting the table as more precise than it is. In the middle of a year's block there is no such doubt.

What the sequence does not cover

• Instruments made before 1898, which were not serialised in this sequence.
• Ukuleles, mandolins and other Martin instruments, which used entirely separate series.
• The model designation, which is stamped above the serial on the neck block and is a different number.
• Which factory built it — since the late 1990s some models have been built at Martin's Navojoa plant in Mexico under the same sequence.

Numbers beyond the table

If your serial is above 2,384,711, the instrument was numbered after our table ends. We will confirm that and stop there.

We could extrapolate from recent production volumes and produce a year. It would look precise and would not be evidence of anything, which is exactly the kind of answer this reference exists not to give. Martin's own registration service can confirm the date for recent instruments.

Common questions

How do I date a Martin guitar from the serial number?

Find which year's block the number falls into. Martin publishes the last serial issued in each year, and the sequence has run continuously since 1898, so the lookup is arithmetic rather than interpretation.

Why does my Martin lookup show two years?

The serial sits close to a year boundary. Martin's figures are year-end totals, so an instrument numbered in late December may well have been finished or shipped in January of the following year.

Can I date a Martin ukulele with this table?

No. Ukuleles, mandolins and other Martin instruments were numbered in separate sequences. Running a ukulele number against the guitar table will produce a confident-looking answer that means nothing.