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Brand Dating Guides
S. Bang pipes date well. The city word in the stamp splits them at 1984.
Updated 2026-10-17
Welcome. If your pipe is stamped S. BANG, this guide is for you.
S. Bang is a small high-grade workshop in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Two carvers made almost every S. Bang pipe: Per Hansen and Ulf Noltensmeier.
Each rule below has a rank: high, medium or low. Read the rank before you trust a window.
1941 to 1984
Svend Bang started in the tobacco trade in 1941.
After the war he worked for W.Ø. Larsen in Copenhagen. There he set up the Larsen pipe workshop.
In 1968 he opened his own pipe shop. At first the workshop behind it only did repairs.
Several carvers came and left quickly. Per Hansen came in 1970 and stayed.
Ulf Noltensmeier came in 1971. Pipedia says the real story of S. Bang pipes starts here.
In 1976 the workshop moved to Struenseegade 9, in the north of Copenhagen.
Svend Bang retired in 1984. He died in 1993.
1984
In 1984 Hansen and Noltensmeier took over the firm. They kept the S. Bang name.
Pipedia says they changed only one thing: the city word in the stamp.
Before 1984 the stamp says COPENHAGEN, in English.
From 1984 the stamp says KØBENHAVN, the Danish word for the same city.
This one word is the strongest dating clue on an S. Bang pipe.
Read the shank first: S. BANG and the city word.
Most pipes for Europe carry a grade, from low to high: Black blast, Tan blast, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C.
A D grade exists, but it is very rare.
Svend Bang started this grade system in 1970. A grade shows quality, not a year.
Pipes for the US market carry a number code and the carver's own stamp.
PH stands for Per Hansen. UN stands for Ulf Noltensmeier.
All S. Bang pipes have black vulcanite stems, cut by hand.
Pipedia gives one example: 9736 with PH.
The first two digits are the year, here 1997. The last two count the pipes, here the 36th.
So the first two digits give the exact year, for codes from 70 to 19.
We do not know in which year the US codes began. Pipedia gives only this rule and one example.
about 1976 to 1977
Around 1976 or 1977, Svend Bang made pipes himself. He named them Löfberg, after his wife's family name.
His German distributor, Otto & Kopp, did not want them. They stayed in its warehouse for about 28 years.
In 2005 they came out and were sold through Volker Bier.
Hansen and Noltensmeier confirmed that Svend Bang made them in person.
So a Löfberg was made about 1976 or 1977, not in 2005. 2005 is only the year of sale.
2019
In 2019 Hansen and Noltensmeier announced that they would retire.
Pipedia says there are no plans to continue the brand.
So our cabinet closes every S. Bang window at 2020.
Do not read the grade as a year. A grade like 7 or B is quality only.
Do not read the whole US code as a year. Only the first two digits are the year.
Do not date a Löfberg by its sale in 2005.
S. Bang pipes have no shape numbers. Our sources show none, so do not look for a shape chart.
Each row comes from our S. Bang cabinet.
COPENHAGEN in the stamp
The Svend Bang years, from the first brand pipes to the takeover.
KØBENHAVN in the stamp
The Hansen and Noltensmeier years. Retirement was announced in 2019.
The name S. BANG, city word not readable
The whole life of the brand.
US code: first two digits, with PH or UN
Pipedia's rule, shown with one example only. The start year of the codes is not known.
Löfberg
Made by Svend Bang about 1976 or 1977. The window has one year of slack on each side.
What We Don't Know Yet
Published deliberately. If you hold the catalogue, hallmarked example, or period document that closes one of these gaps, write to us — corrections are credited. Every open question across the encyclopedia is gathered on the Open Questions page.
Changelog
Sources
Holding a S. Bangyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
S. Bang in the Shop