Shakespeare Serial Numbers

Shakespeare Mystery Serial Numbers

And The Code Breakers

Kerry Hardy, Peter Denley, David Ross, and John Murphy

By Larry Vienneau and Lewis Kent

serial numbers for Shakespeare and Root Bows are usually below the riser on the back of the bow

Folks often contact us about their Shakespeare and Root Bow serial numbers. Until recently we believed that these numbers are of little value in determining age or value. Serial numbers are very helpful for other traditional bow manufacturers, such as Hoyt and Bear which are still in business; they are also useful for other manufacturers that archived the information such as Ben Pearson Bows. Unfortunately, there was no available information about Shakespeare Archery serial numbers. I tried getting information from Ernie Root’s son and from former Root / Shakespeare employees. All said the records were destroyed when Shakespeare closed its archery division. One employee commented that all he knew was that the numbers were written with very nice handwriting, on the bows and then the numbers were written into a log (with very nice handwriting). I assume that that log is long gone and all hope of finding a solution was hopeless.

From June 2013 until late January 2014, I had been recording serial numbers for Shakespeare's most popular bows, Sierra X18, Necedah X26, and Yukon X24. I got most of the numbers from online forums, auctions, and friends. I had hoped to see a pattern or system emerging, but the numbers are fairly ambiguous. As you can see, each model has a variety of digits and letters, some shorter while others are longer. The only fairly consistent trait is each model's serial number ending with a letter for each model- "T" for Sierra, "H" for Yukon, and "M" for Necedah X26. But even that is not consistent because there are anomalies (in red text) in each model's serial numbers.

This all changed in late 2015. In December I received a blog comment and email from a fellow who said he and a group of friends may have a solution.  I call these guys “The Code Breakers”; Peter Denley, Kerry Hardy, David Ross, and John Murphy. These like-minded guys had been using emails to figure out the serial numbers. They had already figured out the Serial numbers for Browning recurves. They came up with a workable system and tried to apply it to the Shakespeare bow.  When I recorded my serial numbers for this blog I noticed the use of letters at the end of the serial number was denoting the various models. The Code Breakers also found this with the Browning bows.

The breakthrough happened when Kerry Hardy realized that the first letter in the serial number actually represented the month of the year in which the bow was made.

MONTH LIST

A = January

B = February

C = March

D = April

E = May

F = June

G = July

H = August

“I” was not used after 1962

J = September

K = October

L = November

M = December

Kerry speculates that the letter “I” was never used because of confusion with the number 1, however, I have a 1962 Model X-22 with the letter “I”. The practice of dropping the “I” may have happened after 1962. This use of the letters for the months is very credible since I have never seen any serial numbers start with Letters N through Z.

The next number theoretically represents the year of the decade. Shakespeare built bows from 1959-1976. This could be plausible for bows made after 1962. The bows in my collection before 1962 seem to have problems applying the theory, a couple have the number “3” and “4” however these are from 1959-60. My bow from 1962 has a “2” and my 1963 bow has a “3”. In fact, the numbers for all my bows except for pre1962 follow this numerical theory perfectly.

The following stream of numbers could be the bows built during the month. I have noticed that the early bows have smaller numbers and the later bows have larger numbers. The factories were likely producing more bows in the later years

The last letter in the Serial Number is the designation for the model. This is a pretty consistent trait in most bows but if you look over the serial numbers I accumulated in just over 6 months you can see anomalies. These could be mistakes or perhaps they denote manufacturing differences. (Bear and Root often used each other's fiberglass and wood; maybe this had some bearing on the anomalies)

Here is a list of Models with the serial number last letter

MODEL LIST

Shakespeare models   1959-76
’59-60 Model 100	NA
’59-60 Model 200	NA
’59-60 Model 300	NA
’59-60 Model 400	NA
’59-60 Model 500	NA
’59-60 Model 600	NA
X1 Shim-Bo	NA
X2 Shim-Bo	NA
X4 Purist	D
X5 Wambaw	T
X6 Graduate	X
X10 Professional	X
X10A Professional	X
X12 Wambaw	C
X14A Ocala Special	J, R
X15-63 Wonderbow	A
X15-66 Wonderbow	A
X15-69 Wonderbow	A
X15 Titan	A
X16 Supreme	B
X17 Wonderbow	C
X17-62 Ocala	C
X17 Ocala	C
X17A Ocala Special	?

X18-64 Wonderbow	D
X18 Sierra	T
X18W Ouachita	W
X19 Wonderbow	E
X19-63 Wonderbow	E
X20-58 Wonderbow	K
X20 Manitou	K
X21 Tioga	N
X22 Wonderbow	G
X22 Custer	G
X23 Pecos	F
Factory Second	Per model

X24 Wonderbow	H
M24	H
X24 Yukon	H
X25 Trident	L
X26 Necedah	M
X27 Kaibab	R
X28 Necedah	N
X29 Cascade	E
X30 Super Necedah	S
X31 Necedah	A
X32 Super Necedah	P
X40 Mancos	K
QT2 Takedown	M

Reading your serial number

Thanks to Peter, Dave, Kerry, and John; Shakespeare collectors have a system for interpreting their serial numbers.  When I spent 6 months recording serial numbers I did find anomalies in the model designations which could have been random mistakes or a slight change in the model.  Remember that this is a theory, and it seems to be working. Sometimes there may be an anomaly that could make your serial number tough to read. I have not been able to find serial numbers for The Graduate X6, target bows from the mid-1970s, and serial numbers for the Ocala X17A. If anyone has serial numbers for these three bows please contact me.

1. The draw weight is often the top number followed by #

2. The first letter represents the month (see monthly chart)

3. Next to the first letter there is a number which represents the year in the decade. (0-9)

4 the next string of numbers may be the production number for a bow for the month.

5. The last letter likely represents the model. (see model chart)

6. Under the serial number is the Bow length ( also called AMO)

 

This bow was built in May 1971; it is number 2381 of the month. It is a Kaibab X27 model and it is 62 inches in length.  It is 42 lbs. draw weight at 28-inch draw length.

I want to thank “The Code Breakers”; Peter Denley, David Ross, John Murphy, and especially Kerry Hardy.  I doubt the system would ever have been deciphered without Kerry’s striking realization that letters represent the months of the year. Thanks, Kerry!!!

Remember that this is a guide, results may vary.

This system does not work on Root Archery. I hope to unleash the Code Breakers on Root Bows and woe to those serial numbers. Since Root Archery produced fewer bows than Shakespeare, finding these numbers will be time-consuming. I have collected many numbers but getting enough to draw comparisons will take a while.  

© Copyright, Larry Vienneau Jr.

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