This Burgundy 200A was built in October of 1961. It is my understanding that the burgundy 200A's came about because Coleman received a shipment of porcelain ventilators in 9 of 1961 and they were the wrong color. Instead of rejecting the shipment, Coleman decided to match the color of the paint on the fount to the ventilators that were the wrong color, instead of having a lull in production. The actual production months were from 10/1961 til 4/1962. I have seen more burgundy 10/61 200A's than any other date, suggesting that they made more in October. The burgundy lanterns were in production until April of 1962. I have seen burgundy lanterns dated 9/61 and 5/62, this being most likely because of the adjoining months of the production run. That being said, the rest of 1962 and some time into 1963 the founts were a deeper red than the normal paint and this would probably be because Coleman was using up the rest of the burgundy paint that was surplus and gradually mixed it in with the normal paint. This is quite evident if you have a series of 200A's from March of 1962 into the middle of 1963, you can see that the paint went from a dark and kept getting lighter. Enjoy! Glenn
Hi, thats an interesting story, i always thought that Coleman wanted to use a decal with out the white border ( as they do on the burgundy lanterns ) and in order to make the decal more visible theý changed to Burgundy red on the lanters. Frederik
Good morning, Last Saturday I bought a similar lamp. I do have some questions though. First the date, under the text "Coleman the sunshine of the night" I find a very tiny x3 and a bit further 62. I assume march 1962? But what about the tiny x? About the color, the hat of the lamp is definitely Burgundy but it looks like the fuel tank is a shade lighter. I found out Burgundy would be color number RAL 3003 or RGB 800020, can anyone confirm that? If so I can order i tin. Another question, the glass, I bought the lamp with a wrong, straight glass. I happen to know someone living i Canada who visits our village in Holland every year. He knows I am interested in Coleman and brought me a glass once, a bulb one with a different logo, the word Coleman in Green. That glass fits the lamp but what about the logo? Regards, Ton.
After I had a closer look, the glass has the name Pyrex in the same green on the backside, I assume not original? And another thing is, there is absolutely no decal, the text on the tank is in scripted, or should I say pressed in? Of course, the lack of a decal could very well mean the tank was painted over once. Ton.
Some time ago someone posted a pair of 200s with burgundy hoods and nickel founts. Good grief they were sexy! I bloomin adore those burgundy hoods!
Now @ColinG you’re getting excited, next thing you’ll know you’ll be lusting after a Coleman big hat ...... or something similar. I lust after the burgundy ones too and I gotta tell you, it’s a slippery path. Enjoy Cheers mate Pete
And how about the glass, with the word Coleman on it and Pyrex on the backside? And the date, I an pretty sure it says x3 62 why the x? Regards, Ton.
Ton You would only remove the paint if you wanted to repaint it, or convert the appearance to polished brass. Do you have a clear photo of the date stamp “x3”? I’m not familiar with an “x” being used for Coleman date stamping. Someone else might comment on the glass. Tony
Can’t find photos just now, but I’ve a 10/62 and an 11/62. The 10/62 may not be a true “Cherry”, but it’s very dark,,, the 11/62 is noticeably paler, but still a deeper red than the general run of 200a’s...
I think Coleman always matched the paint to the vents. You cannot match a vent until it is fired, and Coleman's paint is usually a perfect match. One exception is the Burgundy. The burgundy paint is darker than the vent. You can see that on Haggis' lantern. It is common to see the paint come off. Also common for them to rust through from the outside. The Burgundy was built in roughly the last half of 1961. 9-61 and 10-61 are the most common but there are a few outside of that date range. (I've seen them up to 2-62). By mid 1962 they had lightened the color to what I call "Maroon" but some call "Cherry". This is a deep oxblood color, very beautiful, with a borderless decal but NOT A BURGUNDY. Unless you have the two sitting side by side you will be fooled. Haggis' and Glenn's lanterns are Burgundy, the color and date match. In that exact timeframe Coleman USA switched from a side stamped fount to a bottom stamped fount. So MOST Burgundies have side stamped founts, and MOST "Maroons' or "Cherries" have a bottom stamped fount. The word "MOST" is very intentional. The deep oxblood color I call "Maroon" gradually lightened to a bright red by 1963, still with the borderless decal. There were a few Burgundies made before the decal change. They had the previous decal on them, which had a yellow border. IMHO the oxblood "Maroon" or "Cherry" is the most beautiful 200A. Mine is dated 7-62. VBW Dan California, USA
