The Earliest Paramount Serial Numbers. The very first Paramounts seemed to have had serial numbers starting with “A” followed by two or three digits. This seems to have been a system started by Emil Wastyn. We found a very early Paramount – claimed to be a 1938-9 vintage – with serial number A545. Schwinn Dates Codes: All Schwinn serial numbers before August 17, 1948 were lost in an office fire. Serial numbers were under the bottom hanger bracket until 1952 when they were moved to the left rear dropout. They were moved again in 1972 to the head tube. Until 1982 Schwinn punched the serial numbers into the lower left of the head tube itself The first two letters indicated the month/year or production. The first letter (A-M, excluding I) correspond to January-December. The second letter indicates year — R,S,T corresponding to 1980, 1981, and 1982, respectively.
Enter your Schwinn serial number in the box and click 'find' to see what date and year your Schwinn bike was manufactured.
This tool searches a database of Schwinn serial numbers and if it finds a match to your serial number then it will display the information available for your bike.
Notes: This tool works for Schwinn bikes from 1948 to 1982. All serial number records before 1948 were lost in a factory fire.
Serial Number Location
The serial number can typically be found in one of three places on a Schwinn made bicycle.
- The headtube
- The rear dropout
- Underneath the bottom bracket shell
Note: The serial number will always be found on the actual frame of the bike. In other words, it will not be found on a bike component (like a handlebar or a pedal).
Schwinn Paramount Serial Number Chart
Example Numbers
Schwinn serial numbers commonly have one of three formats:
- All numbers
- One letter followed by numbers
- Two letters followed by numbers
Here are some example numbers: 0465228 - F106791 - EB37868
What a serial number can tell you
The serial number on a Schwinn frame will tell you the date that frame was manufactured. It will not identify the model of the bike, only the year the frame itself was manufactured.
Schwinn Bikes > Serial Numbers