Hey Jimmy...here's the poop on dating Paiste cymbals.

6 digit date code stamp only is from the 1970's, the first character determines the year in that decade, 3XXXXX, would be 1973

Stamped "PAISTE" plus 6 digit as above from the 1980's

Stamped "pAiSTe" plus 6 digit as above from the 1990's

In the mid 1990's they went to an 8 digit serial number with the first two numbers indicating the date, 02XXXXXX would be 2002

Serial numbers seem to be meaningless for most Paiste Prototypes and don't seem to indicate date.

There you go, hope that helps. In your case if there is no "PAISTE" or "pAiSTe" stamp then, indeed the hats would be from 1970. If so, that is a good price.

Thanks for the scoop! I'll see if I can verify about the stamp but I'll probably just get them.

Those hats are from 1980, the year that you will find black ink stamps (like on John Bonham's Paistes) on some lines and red logos (2002), blue logos (602), green logos (505), brown logos (404) and black logos (Sound Creation). For example, I have three Sound Creation cymbals with serial numbers that begin "00XXXX"; two of them have ink stamps and one of them has a silk-screened black logo.

Paiste began using serial numbers in 1972, so any six digit serial number is used in the 1970s and 80s and you need to also look at the ink and any die stamps. In some cases, you'll have both a screened logo and a die stamp. in the 90s, the two-digits of the year were used, as in 96XXXXXX and the number lengthened from six to eight digits. Cymbals made in this century have the two digit year at the beginning, as this "07XXXXXX", meaning manufacture in 2007.

Jimmy, can you tell us what model these hats are?

Hi, I went ahead and bought these. I really like them a lot. No ink on top of top one, but serials are in order. 1980 it is. How wierd for that guy to insist that he bought them before 1980. Some folks...

You have a nice set of 2002 Sound Edge hats there. Great score.

Tim

Hey guys this is my first post, I only really made this account for this but I have these paiste hi-hats that were given to me by someone a while ago. They are Paiste 101 but I can find no numbers on them except for 2 digits on the inside of the bottom hi-hat. I cannot really read them it either says 68/ 69 / 86 (upside down). I would say it looks most like 69 because the 6 is legible but the other it is either a 8/9 so i don't know, but it looks most like a 9. It is in blue ink.

I know the hi-hats are old because they were given to me with kit that was used in the late '70s for sure.

Thank You very much for your time!

the blue ink Paiste 101s are from the early 80s