The Western Electric 202 or D1 made its debut in 1928 following in the footsteps of the 102 or B1 telephone. These phones are highly collectible and you should look for certain things when looking at them.

The distinguishing factor in a Western Electric 202 as opposed to the 102, is the shape of its base. The 102 base is round and compact, and the 202 base is oval. Production of the 202 ran from 1928 through about the mid to lage 1940's. There were many 202's which were recycled during those years, particularly during World War II.

As with the 102, a separate ringer box or subscriber set was needed to go with the telephone if you wanted anti-side tone features and a ringer. Otherwise, the phone can be wired for direct plug in without a ringer and without the anti-side tone features.Beware of dealers who offer an 'satisfactory' or 'adequate' ringer box with a 'modern network' or other buzz words like that. If you want a novelty then buy that phone. If you want a collectible phone that is original and will hold its value, look for a phone that comes with a subscriber set or bellbox as they call it.

The 202's were made of a zinc alloy metal over which black enamel paint would be applied. The original paint was semi-glossy to matte. The base plate of the telephone was covered in soft suede made from cowhide.

To determine the date that the base was actually manufactured, open the base plate by unscrewing the two screws underneath the telephone. You can see them through the holes in the suede. After removing the base plate from the phone, with the dial being on the bottom of your view, you should see a date stamped in orange to the right of where the screw goes in. If you see a second date in green, that means it was refurbished on that green date. Also check the fingerwheel. If its aluminum with paint over it, its a later model fingerwheel, post 1941 likely. The original fingerwheels were made of solid brass and some out of copper. These solid copper and brass fingerwheels are sought after by serious collectors.

Next, look at the dial itself. The dial should be marked either #4H (1928 - 1938 +/-) or #5H (1937 - 1949 +/-) on the inside of the phone. It may also be dated in orange or orange and green. If you find a #6 dial (which has a plastic dust cover on it), don't be alarmed, some of those did end up in 202's. If the dial fits within a specific date range, say within a year or possibly two of the base date, you're probably looking at an original phone that has not been parts swapped. If the dates are vastly different, it may have been a phone assembled from parts. Remember, the Bell System did not care about collectors or keeping phones with all matching dates. They were in the business of recycling old phones to send out to new subscribers that rented them. Profit was the game with the Bell System.

Next, look at the paint finish on the outside. Is it even with few signs of runs, drips and errors, or does it have an orange peel or appear too deep and lustrous. If it does (either of the above), its probably been repainted. An original finish 90 percent or better is a serious collector's dream.So if someone says they've refinished it, that's fine, but a serious collector might not look at that 202. It all depends on how pure you want the phone.

Another note, the E-1 handset with the spitcup was prominent from 1924 through 1939. Up until about 1935, the bullet transmitter was used inside the E-1. These are highly prized and sought after by collectors. After 1935 or so, the E-1 handset was changed to include a standard transmitter found in the F-1 handset which succeeded the E-1. If it has a solid bakelite cone inside the spitcup, its the bullet transmitter. If it has a screen inside the spitcup, its a standard E-1.

Finally, in the 1950's, AT&T reintroduced the 202 as the "Imperial" line. They did so to dump the remaining stock of unused 202's. The 202 was reinvented in the form of gold or silver plated bases, a No. 6 hollow dial center or open hollow dial center clear fingerwheel, and either an ivory painted F-1 handset or a thermoplastic ivory colored F-1 handset. The base plate colver should be either white dyed super soft and shiny tanned suede or leather or white naugahyde. These telephones also required a subscriber or ringer box or would be a non-ringing extension phone. These were introduced to "celebrate" the 75th Anniversary of Bell's invention of the telephone. These telephones are highly collectible. Also introduced as custom ordered phones were colored 202's which ran in Pekin Red, Country Blue, Pink, White and Rose. Many of these phones had painted bases, painted handsets, and painted fingerwheels.