Abstract: A method of fastener identification for traceability of manufacturing information of an individual fastener, is achieved by applying a code to the fastener. The fasteners to be identified typically are formed of hardened materials such as steel. A die cast, forged or pressed roll stamp or forge stamp is thus used to apply the code and is formed with a raised stencil of one or more characters or indicia. Multiple lots of a certain fastener typically are manufactured in a given time period, such as a year, thus requiring a different code to identify each fastener lot. Numbers of lots and sizes of individual lots for a given time period are difficult to predict for a fastener producer, thus risking waste if multiple customized stamps are used to identify the lots. A universal stamp having a single indicia stencil is utilized to identify all lots of a certain fastener in a given time period, by removing selected ones of the stencil characters from the universal stamp for each different lot.