A few years back I wrote Mercian for information on a frame I picked up and sent them the serial number. Last night I dug the letter out they sent me and it did say the "last two" digits of Mercian serial numbers indicate the year the frame was built. They seem to have good records as they told me my frame was originally built for a customer in Texas!
Chuck mentioned:
>Actually it's the first two digits on the '59 Superlight Vigorelli
(1959
>was when this model was first introduced).
>The serial number appears on the lower part of the left track-style
>fork end: #59760
I have no idea if that "last two digit" date code is a hard fast rule for the entire history of Mercian. Any chance your frame was built in 1960? Chuck, your bike looks stunning and I would love to see additional pics and hear more about it. While Mercians are certainly common enough (I've had three) you hardly ever see one that pre-dates the bike boom here in the States much less one as early as yours. Very nice indeed!
Jim Cole
Memphis, TN