Peugeot serial nos.
These were indeed STAMPED on the BB shell up until around 1971 (I think this has been clearly established and I am too lazy to find the exact year but it's around this time) and then they went to the little riveted plate. I am puzzled as to Earle's assertion that all of this didn't originate from the Peugeot factory or does he imply these are really Nervex nos. or??? Regardless, during the classic PX-10 era there does seem to be no sequential order. The surest way to date a PX is if the derailleur seems original and it has the "4-68" or whatever date code on the inward face of the pulley cage.
Tow Path Cycles, Washington DC
Always great to hear mention of this shop which is where I caught the cycling bug from repeated visits and purchases there. That classic bike shop smell and small enough to be packed with cycles. And being on M Street in Georgetown, you could do a nice Paris-Roubaix imitation on your test ride on the Belgian block paving and street car tracks! I never understood the fuss over this "hell of the north" having grown up riding in Georgetown on cobbles all the time. My dad was good friends with Clay Grubeck and almost bought a piece of the business and always regretted not doing so especially when the Bike Boom hit. This was THE Peugeot dealer in Washington DC and rivalled Cycles & Sports as the big Raleigh one, too. I think Clay introduced Peugeot to DC. This was a great cycling town then and now, and in the 1970s was French cycle heaven, thronged with Peugeot AO-8s, UE-8s, folders, Gitanes, Motobecanes, the lot. Even today, there are lots of mixte frame machines in daily use. I honestly didn't even see an Italian bicycle when I was a boy, to me bikes were English or French and Schwinns were distained in tony Georgetown of course.
Peter Kohler
Washington, DC USA