The engine was made on 2 September 1998 in "Plant 56", which is actually an administrative center at Briggs HQ, not an engine plant. So far I've only seen this trick done on engines that were actually made in Plant 28, in Chongqing, which further supports AVB's information that this is a Chinese engine.
Got an interesting data point for you here, grumpy. My current everyday mower is a Masport Maxicatch 550, with a Briggs Quantum XTS50 on it. Alloy deck, extended [snorkel] air intake, multi-position handle; it's a nice machine to use.
With these numbers: Model 12F802 Type 3112-E1 Code 01052157 Which was before Chongqing came online, IIRC.
The numbers are off the cowling itself, not the muffler heatshield - that was a bit too rusty, when I picked this one up secondhand last year.
