Country code on Polydor/Philips LP deadwax

I think it is mentioned here and elsewhere that the code "320" on a Polydor/Philips LP (probably since 1970s or after, I'm not sure) signifies a stamper produced in Germany, the "420" for one produced in the UK, and "670" for a Netherlands stamper. But so far I am unable to find a complete list of the country codes available. Does anybody know where I could find one such list, or if such a list ever existed?

I asked this because I've come across some LPs with country codes "830" and "520", and I have no idea which countries these refer to. Strangely, I found a page unrelated to vinyl LPs which has a table of country codes which has the above 3 codes with the matching country:
http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=514231&page=6

Scroll down towards the bottom and you should be able to find the table. Co-incidentally, the webpage is related to Philips Sopho phone system! I wonder if these codes were used by Philips internally?

 

It looks to me like more than a co-incidence. So '520' indicates an Italian pressing though '830' remains unknown. Great work there!

 

Yeah, it's not a mere co-incidence, I think. But does anybody have more information on this?

 

While I have no more information about this myself, I can tell you that I was just looking at the markings in the deadwax of my Canadian pressing of Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits. The number "230" appears in the deadwax on this one.

So that other people don;t have to go scrolling thought that lengthy web page, here are the country codes listed:

Austria 720
Australia 150
Belgium 170
Brazil 200
Denmark 300
Far East 022
France 380
Germany 320
Great Britain 420
Hungary 450
Italy 520
Luxembourg 630
Netherlands 670
Portugal 790
South Africa 960
Spain 850
Sweden 970
Switzerland 980
Rest of the World 000

Cheers,
Chris

 

While I'm not positive about this, I'm pretty sure 710 is used for NORWAY (I have a Who LP that I'm almost positive is Norwegian and it has 710 in the dead wax).

It also has ''NCB'' as it's royalties payment logo.
.

 

710 is very common for Scandinavian pressings, particularly those released in Norway and Sweden. I have several pressings with the 710 in the dead wax. Having the 1971 Scandinavian version of Best of Bee Gees vol. 2 in my immediate grasp the cover itself is printed at Team Trykk which is Norwegian, had it been printed in Sweden SiB Tryck would have been the likely alternative. The discs however may in reality have been pressed in Germany for the Scandinavian market. I'll see if I can find one of the SiB Tryck printed covers and see if there is a difference there or not.

NCB covers all the Nordic countries as it is a joint venture between STIM (Sweden), KODA (Denmark), TEOSTO (Finland), TONO (Norway) and STEF (Iceland). NCB also administers copyrights for the three companies in the Baltic countries.

 

I was just checking the deadwax of a few other Dire Straits LPs. My copies of the first LP and Communique are both on the Mercury label with the buildings graphic. Neither one has a three digit number in the deadwax.

My copy of Making Movies has the blue Mercury label and it has 230 in the deadwax.

I also have a German pressing of Communique and it has the typical 320 in the deadwax.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Gone through some of my Scandinavian pressings, mostly Norwegian Team-Trykk printed covers with the 710 code. Found one Swedish SIB Tryck printed one but the dead wax had only a carved in cat.no with no country code present. Still have some more vinyl to go through. As far as the rest of the country codes posted above are concerned I've matched them with Dutch, German and Spanish pressings that I own.

 

While many of the local pressings of Western pop music in Hong Kong utilized stampers from all over the world, stampers of most of the local music have the number 830 inscribed. So I really wonder whether 830 stands for Hong Kong or somewhere in Asia.

By the way, does anybody have idea what number a Japan stamper uses?

 

The Who LP I reference in post #5 (with the 710 stamper) has a Norwegian "Team-Trykk" printed cover.