Yes, I doubt it also, that Natchez would sell you old products, at least not very old. Are either of yours considered, or marked, XR? I may be wrong, but thought the XR line were the last fixed models they made, or were just ahead or behind the "Classic T-Series"? Like I said earlier, I really don't know all that much about Weaver but did read they first started the T-Series fixed scope in 1999 when Meade bought/owned Weaver, or so the article said.
I wish I knew how to date mine. I don't know if it's just the nature of fixed scopes to be "difficult" to look through, and - in my case, glass that seems "less than very clear", giving an almost "grainy appearance", or if mine is some early (older) model before better glass was available? I do need to get it to the range to get a better idea of how it really looks. I don't want to scare any neighbors, or worse, get arrested, by looking around the neighborhood with the scope mounted. Looking out a window with the scope loosely hand-held on a tripod left a lot to be desired in terms of stability...
I'd also think those with Japanese glass would be very good quality, not just because they are "generally picky about things". but because of how good most (or all?) Japanese glass is in general, especially the various Nikon scopes I have.
Zeiss scopes/glass... I Googled them and found this; "Designed and engineered in Germany and manufactured in Japan..." (from an article on the ZEISS Conquest V4 scope, published by Basemap, whoever they are?). Does this mean they use Japanese glass in their scopes? Very likely is my thought. The German's are very good at engineering products, but I personally feel the Japanese are just as good (or better?) at "Glass" manufacturing (for scopes, camera lenses, etc). To me the Zeiss brand sounds like a great combination of engineering and glass.
On the light transmission claims, I'm with you, in that I'm also suspect of many of the claims out there. I've seen many of the same or similar claims before and also Questioned the accuracy of the numbers provided. Maybe some of the higher transmission numbers are from glass with fewer coatings than say Zeiss uses? Maybe it's more about the testing methods or equipment? Who knows? But some of the claims do sound very Fishy or Suspect to me as well.
I haven't heard of any US (scope/camera lens) glass manufactures, but I guess anythings possible? My instincts say there are none, but I never looked...
I've no idea about Nightforce glass/coatings either. Like you, I'd also like to have at least one or two really high end (on Quality - Glass, not necessarily price, if possible) scopes. I keep looking, but pretty much stay partly confused as to which direction to go. I sure as heck don't want to buy (can't afford to buy either) "one of each great brand" (expensive brands thought to be great) just to find out! I guess we'll both have to keep dreaming for a while until we learn a lot more? I'm trying to learn, going online and just reading details of the better brands and their process, models, etc, but that alone doesn't make it much easier to know which brand to buy. Sometimes it makes me even more confused and uncertain on the subject. One of these days I'll get it figured out and buy something high end. I think I first need to thin the herd some (I bought too many 22lr bolt action rifles in 2019, among other new related toys) because I'm spending way too much time trying to get small groups with too darn many different rifles, when I should just be focused on one or two. Now that I know what this Weatherby XXII BA can do (and Browning T-Bolt T/V), choosing (some of) what to sell has become a lot easier!