I just picked up this old Raleigh bicycle but the number I found on the bottom bracket doesn`t seem to tally up with anything on the websites for Raleigh frame numbers ?
I had a look but can`t see any letter. It has a Black Sturmey Archer AW hub with a changer on the Top Tube and a Brooks B73 saddle but not sure that makes any difference.
The rear hub may carry a date, could be original. The bike looks early 30s, but possibly the black hub might mean WW2. If it has chrome plate anywhere it is after 1930, previously plated parts would have been nickel.
Bikes made for the Ministry of Defence were made to a 1925 design, another possibility, perhaps wartime. Have a look on the AW hub shell, there might be a date.
Keith