For many years I have been cautioning people to not put too much credence in many of the serial numbers lists that are out there when trying to figure the vintage of their instruments. One of the most flagrantly wrong lists is the one devised by Tsumura for Bacon and Day banjos. Until recently I had no solid evidence to point to but finally thanks to Wayne Edmondson (Vintage banjo lover and dealer for OME banjos) of Bar Harbor Maine , Michael McLaughlin(Coolmusic Store on Ebay) and most recently John Field from the UK, that is no longer true.  As you can see these 3 Silver Bell Banjos serial numbers  25228, 25382 and 24975 were  purchased in the fall of  1928.  They were  obviously made earlier but the actual date of manufacture can not be determined. Regardless of that, the dates of sale were a good 7 to 8 years earlier than most B&D lists give for that serial number.  The only list that I know of that is close to being accurate is being compiled by Polle Flanoe

I received the following from Stan Werbin at Elderly Instruments

Hi Noel,

I thought I had sent these to you earlier, but I have encountered the following instruments:

#28191 #1 Sultana tenor with sales receipt date 3/30.
#26589 Peerless model stamped inside: "Patented 12/20/27"

I hope this helps out.
 

If others of you out there have other such documentation, I would love to hear about it. We are up to 5 now.   There must be others out there.

Another Bill of Sale has surfaced. In a recent Ebay auction the seller, Coolmusic Store, mentioned that the B&D Montana he was auctioning came with the original Bill of Sale.  I emailed him and asked him if I could get a copy of the Bill of Sale, which he most obligingly sent to me.  This serial number 24975 would put it in the 1935 range by most lists but here it is on a Bill of Sale from 1928

Thanks to John Field who lives in the UK for sending me the one below