Use of serial number on gold & silver bars

Jmsb

Is the serial number on gold and silver bars useful for anything more than differentiating one otherwise identical bar from another? For example, is there any way to use the serial number to determine the date of the bar's manufacture or perhaps any other information? If so, where would that information be?

derryb

primarily for identifying specific bars being held in an allocated or storage account. Most likely there are records with the manufacturer indicating when produced.