I had another thread about whether or not I should keep or part out this bike. At the time, I thought it was a 1976 but now I'm pretty sure it's older, maybe late 1960s but I can't be positive.

I found a serial number, it appears to be 995633 on the lug just in front of the Brooks mattress seat. The location of the serial number and the format place it between 1961 and 1972. I thought originally that it was a 1970 based on paint scheme but have learned that Raleigh used the same scheme many years in a row. The 1976 bike pictured at http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/sprite.html has the 5 speed freewheel and stem shifter but the front fork is all wrong. The fork has the features of the 1970 Raleigh Sport as detailed in the catalog at http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/sports.html.

There is not a chain guard and it appears that there never was one on the bike. In addition, the stem shifter is configured for a RD only and the paint shows no indications of anFD ever being installed. Still, the frame has provision for an FD cable (see BB photo.)

Here are some pictures: