shelf life of a battery

Dont they (the manufacturer) date stamp one of the battery posts?

The code they use for date stamping is different for each battery wholesaler.

The retailer should be able to tell you or contact the battery wholesaler.

We sell the RAA branded batteries that all the other state motoring bodies like NRMA, RACQ sell, if a battery is not sold with in 3 mths the battery gets swapped over with a replacement and the old one recharged, once recharged; it is put back out into the market, if it doesn't get sold in it's second 3 month period it is taken out of circulation and resold in bulk to one of the discount battery places by the pallet load...... (you know the places who sell batteries for $49.95 with a three month warranty).

It also depends on the type of battery, for example some wet cell batteries are sold without electrolyte in them (comes in a separate bottle/filling system) and so the actual "state" of the battery would remain in stasis until you start the process by adding the electrolyte. I'd imagine "solid" batteries would be different though.

Make Google your friend!
I just Googled Exide battery date codes & found this:

DATE CODE
Every battery will display a MANUFACTURING CODE located
on the front lip of the battery lid. ACTIVATION CHARGE
CODE is located on the back lip on the battery lid opposite
the terminals. This code may be used to determine battery
age when the receipt is not available or as guide for stock
management purposes.
1.JUN.7.10.40 This will read as 1/06/07 10.40am
The last 4 digits represent the time in a 24 hour clock.

This also could be of interestAutomotive Battery Part Numbers and Date Codes


You may need to decide what brand of battery you are interested in & Google for their coding.