The public Colt serial number data bases end in 1985, with the main online version ending in 1978.
The new serial number look-up system on the Colt web site doesn't cover most newer guns and may be a work in progress that hasn't caught up yet.
There's no conspiracy to take your money. All you have to do to get a production year for a Colt is call Colt. They'll give you the production date over the phone for FREE.
No one but Colt knows how many of any model they made, and Colt, like most gun companies won't release that information.
So, only Colt knows for sure how many CT models were made and they won't say, even if they have that information in a form they can easily research.