The Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 bicycle VIN

Vehicle identification number

A Vehicle Identification Number, commonly abbreviated to VIN, is a unique serial number used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles. VINs were first used in 1954...

-system is a system introduced in 1942 by the Danish government, providing all bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

s in Denmark with a unique code. The code is a combination of letters

Letter (alphabet)

A letter is a grapheme in an alphabetic system of writing, such as the Greek alphabet and its descendants. Letters compose phonemes and each phoneme represents a phone in the spoken form of the language....

 and digits

Numerical digit

A digit is a symbol used in combinations to represent numbers in positional numeral systems. The name "digit" comes from the fact that the 10 digits of the hands correspond to the 10 symbols of the common base 10 number system, i.e...

 embedded into the bicycle frame

Bicycle frame

A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, on to which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles, a main triangle and a paired rear triangle...

 and consists of a manufacturer code, a serial number, and construction year code.

Since 1948, it has been illegal to sell bicycle frames in Denmark without an embedded VIN. Because of this, insurance companies in Denmark will not pay indemnities for stolen bicycles without a VIN.

Location of the VIN

By default, the VIN is to be engraved

Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

 into the seat tube or the down tube, but if these are made of such a material that hinders this, it may alternately be put on the bottom bracket shell

Bottom bracket

The bottom bracket on a bicycle connects the crankset to the bicycle and allows the crankset to rotate freely. It contains a spindle that the crankset attaches to, and the bearings that allow the spindle and cranks to rotate. The chainrings and pedals attach to the cranks...

. In very special instances, and only with the approval of the Danish National Police Commissioner’s Office, it may be applied by other means and on other locations.

The elements of the VIN

The bicycle VIN is constructed of three elements: a letter-block, a digit-block and a letter-block:

WXX 1234 Z

The first part (WXX) is the manufacturers-code, which is a 1, 2 or 3-letter block. If the code starts with a W, it is an imported bicycle frame. The second part (1234) is the frame serial number from that manufacturer. This can have any number of digits. The third block (Z) is a single letter code that identifies the production year. Certain limits regarding letters are instated for the VIN:

• I is omitted as it can be confused with 1 (one)
• O is omitted as it can be confused with 0 (zero)
• Y is omitted as it can be confused with V
• Since 1956 Q is omitted, as it can be confused with 0 (zero)
• W is omitted, to avoid confusion with the manufacturer code (where W is reserved for imported frames)

Common manufacturer codes

This table shows examples of manufacturer codes, but is in no way to be considered a complete listing.

Code	Manufacturer name	Code	Manufacturer name	Code	Manufacturer name
A-G		H-P		R-Å
AK	Centurion (previously Åge Krøll)	HN	Hede Nielsens Fabrikker A/S	RD	Scandinavia Racing Discount
AR	Raleigh Raleigh Bicycle Company The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a bicycle manufacturer originally based in Nottingham, UK. It is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. From 1921 to 1935 Raleigh also produced motorcycles and three-wheel cars, leading to the formation of the Reliant Company.-Early years:Raleigh's history...  (previously Vilhelm Nellemann A/S)	IA1	Ivan A Hansen	REC	Recykel ApS
AV	Winther cykler (alias Anders Winther A/S)	IC2	Ebsen Danmark A/S	SI1	Søgreni cykler
AZ	Jørgensø Import	JE	Jupiter	S	SCO (alias Smith & Co)
BA	Banani (previosly Bent A Nielsen)	JKH	Jyde-Kompagniet A/S	SS	SCO (alias Smith & Co)
BL	SCO bicycles sold in the Bilka supermarket chain Bilka Bilka is a Danish chain of hypermarkets. The first store opened in 1970 in Tilst, a suburb of Aarhus. The chain was founded by Herman Salling, but is now a part of Dansk Supermarked.-Name:...  (see also S)	JWG3	Cykelbanditten	STE	Stangerup Efterfølgere
BK	Kildemoes (alias Børge Kildemoes)	KM	Motobecane Motobécane Motobécane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, and other small vehicles, established in 1923. "Motobécane" is a compound of "moto", slang for motorcycle; "bécane" is slang for "bike."...	SX	Saxil cykler (also see BN)
BN	Saxil Bicycles (SX until approx. 2000)	LL	Sorte Jernhest	TU	Trek Trek Bicycle Corporation Trek Bicycle Corporation is a major bicycle and cycling product manufacturer and distributor under brand names Trek, Gary Fisher, Bontrager, Klein and until recently, LeMond Racing Cycles...
BT	Taarnby a/s	MB	MBK	TV	Batavus Batavus Batavus BV is a Dutch bicycle manufacturer, owned by the Accell Group European Cycle conglomerate. Batavus Intercycle Corporation was the leading manufacturer of bicycles and mopeds in the Netherlands during the 1970s. During its most productive years, the company’s . Heerenveen plant employed 700...
CC	Christiania Freetown Christiania Not to be confused with Christiania, Norway, another name for Oslo.Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital Copenhagen...  Bicycles (also Pedersen-cyklen)	MR	Ritter Import	UR	Urania cykler
CGE	Cykelgear.dk	N	Nordisk Cykelfabrik A/S	VI	VIVA bikes
CK	Jensen cykler (alias C K Jensen)	NH	Nihola Cykler ApS	VEL	Velorbis
CM	Mosquito	PA	Pedal-atleten	VG	Grebart cykler
CS	Christiania Freetown Christiania Not to be confused with Christiania, Norway, another name for Oslo.Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital Copenhagen...  Bicycles	PD	Styer-Puch A/S Steyr-Daimler-Puch Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names.-History:...
DA	FDB	PF	Peter From
DB	Rocky	POL	VIN provided by the police Police of Denmark The police of Denmark is the interior part of the Danish legitimate force providers...  - usually for private import
DI1	Dibbern Cykler	PL	CREATE
EE	Egedesø (alias Everton)	PR	Pro Movec
FAK	Falcon	PS	Schrøder cykler
GD	Titania Cykler	PY	Python Pro
GW3	G&W Cykler

¹: Even though I in general is not used, it appears that some brands are using it.

²: Even though I in general is not used, Ebsen Danmark A/S bicycles are in fact using it in their manufacturercode (verified).

³: Even though W in general is not used, it appears that some brands are using it.

Production year identification codes

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	J	K	L	M	N	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	X	Z
1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963
1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	-	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984
1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998		1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011

Example

Example:

BK 12345 A

This is a Danish made bicycle frame from the company Kildemoes, where the frame is serial no. 12345 and made in either 2006, 1985, 1964, or in 1942.