I think I have worked out the "system" of date code in [later] Minolta camera serial numbers, (might be proved wrong as I am not sure exactly when some were discontinued)
The 1st & 2nd digits appear to show month of manufacture. For example if the first digit is 1, the 2nd digit is the month digit, eg. 8 for the 8th month (August) etc. and the 1st digit (1) is disregarded. For months with two numbers (Oct, Nov, Dec) the 1st digit is a 2, for example 21 for 11th month (November).
It appears that the 3rd digit indicates year of production, for example the RD-175 & ActionCam were introduced in 1995 and on this basis all numbers so far are showing 1995-1998 production (not sure when discontinued but the RD-3000 arrived 1999 and this also appears to correlate.) Example 5 = 1995, 9 = 1999
Example: 19604636 - 9th month 6th year [September 1996] camera number 4636
Example: 22901010 - 12th month 9th year [December 1999] camera number 1010
Example: 20701337 - 10th month 7th year [October 1997] camera number 1337
I'm only familiar with RD-175, 3000, etc. so don't have any film cameras to verify this with. Hope I have explained clearly enough, Jonathan
Minolta serial numbers, eg RD-175, 3000, SB-70, etc
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Minolta serial numbers, eg RD-175, 3000, SB-70, etc
DCS serial no. survey
RC-760, EOS-1D & Ds Mk I, II, III, EOS*DCS-3, 5, DCS, DCS-200ci, 420, 460, D1, D1H & X, D2H & X, E2, F, F2, F3, F4, MVC-2000, 5000, 7000, RD-175, 3000, EF 50mm f/1.0, Audi S2, Porsche 911, GSX-R1000 K9
RC-760, EOS-1D & Ds Mk I, II, III, EOS*DCS-3, 5, DCS, DCS-200ci, 420, 460, D1, D1H & X, D2H & X, E2, F, F2, F3, F4, MVC-2000, 5000, 7000, RD-175, 3000, EF 50mm f/1.0, Audi S2, Porsche 911, GSX-R1000 K9