Hello.
. I decided to consign my 46 Ford pickup to Barret Jackson. I filed my application and yesterday I received a call from the agent which was quite alarming. He stated that he sees vin numbers all day and mine looked "off from the start" meaning fraudulent is how I took it?! My Father purchased this truck for me 30 years ago and to my knowledge, no one has ever tampered with or restamped the vin on the driver side frame rail during the entire build process. I'm hoping any experts or owners can chime in please because it makes me second guess my truck even tho I'm 100% certain he is mistaken. In my opinion, he made it sound like I was a cheat. Please see attached picture of my vin and what he emailed me saying how different example. My frame is powdercoated in black. One thing that did stand out to me is my title has the "I" listed as a 1 here in the state of CO.


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In the "font face" that Ford used at the time, "I" is the number "1", so no worries there. (You can read about the Font change here: Early Ford Serial Numbers For Cars and Trucks Manufactured for the USA Market from 1932 to 1953 )

Here is another example:



Remember, these were stamped by hand - not machine, and so there will be differences based upon personnel, place of production and so on. It also looks like your frame was powder coated or similar and so has a way of catching light around the numbers.

For fun, look at this 1947 curiosity and how the "Y" was made:

 

Here's some interesting reading on serial number stampings. https://myflatheadford.com/early-ford-serial-numbers/ Your stamp almost looks "too good", which is probably why the BJ guy has questions. I also don't think it looks out of place enough to question its legitimacy. Once upon a time, mechanics and dealerships were able to buy Ford stamp sets for stamping replacement engines and/or parts as necessary, and were instructed by Ford to do so. The new font shown here was introduced in the late 30's. This is not to say it is the only font ever used as there were very likely slight variations made over the years and the thousands of stamp sets made.



Myself, I'd be of the mindset of thinking if they think I'm a crook, they don't need my money or my consignment. I'd find another venue for selling. My 2c.

 

Your powdercoated frame and serial number look very much like mine, which is about 10,000 from yours. I see nothing that would indicate anything wrong with your VIN. Maybe the guy has never seen a clean frame and VIN!

 

Maybe they were expecting something like this (Please don't do this!!!!)



On the other hand, the pictured outfit doesn't seem to care about the VINs of the vehicles they list...