The 10 Best Date Stamps

The Trodat Professional 4.0 (appx. $14) can deliver thousands of inked impressions before its stamp pad needs to be replaced. Not only that, but it also has a sturdy brushed stainless steel frame that will stand up to regular use in a busy office.

If preselected words and messages won’t do, then you might take a look at the ExcelMark R100 (about $24). It offers you two lines of customizable text, one above and one under the date, for a price that rivals many standard choices with fixed prints.

The MaxMark XL (about $25) prints your preferred date in bold red beneath the prominent word "Received," which is emblazoned on the paper in blue. The overall effect is eye-catching, helping to prevent the overlooking, or improper filing, of documents.

Whether you're an employer keeping track of your workers or you've just got a lot of forms to mark as received (or sent or processed or faxed), the AT-3000R Digital (appx. $154) can handle it. It boasts 13 messages to select from, as well as four languages, including Spanish.

There’s nothing terribly exciting or fancy about the Sparco 4 Band (appx. $5), but that's okay, as it is inexpensive and can get the job done. The deep-etched characters make a good impression, not only on paper, but on the user, too.

The Trodat Printy Do It Yourself (around $16) gives you versatility, since you can change the message as many times as you want thanks to the 300 characters it is packaged with. These include an “at” symbol for creating email addresses and two of each number.

You’ll always be able to see this MaxMark Max Dater II (appx. $13) on your desk, because its bright red body is hard to miss. It should give you several thousand impressions before it needs a new pad, or you can simply re-ink the old one.

The Trodat Printy Economy (about $7) is a simple self-inking model that’s priced to fit into any small business' or classroom's budget. It's easy to use, since it has an open base that lets you see exactly where you're about to make your mark.

You won’t have to worry about leap years or short months with the Pyramid 3500 (around $150), an adaptable time clock option for fast-paced businesses. It can be changed from 12 to 24-hour time, and has a tamper-proof lock to keep users honest.

The Shiny 4-in-1 Mini (appx. $10) definitely lives up to its name, as the text it produces is rather small. But that also means this doesn't take up a lot of room, which makes it excellent for those who are low on space and don't need anything big or complicated.