Very nice!  The keys look pristine. I don't know much about the rebuild history of these guys.  Will and Dave Davis might be the guys to talk to.

With just a little bit of clean up and repair, this will be a stunning machine! How does it type?

A later example of the Model 5. My guess, a 1950 model. The serial number is odd and I'm purely speculating that it has something to do with the R.C. Allen switchover in 1950. From the photo the serial number stamp looks original to me; I have a factory rebuilt 1931 Model 5 and it still has its original serial number (as opposed to the practice of issuing the machine with a new one after a rebuild). Assuming that my machine was rebuilt in the early '40s, the practice back then at least was to put a special sticker on its case to designate that it had been rebuilt.



It's a shame about the ribbon cover, and the cut off back-space key, but they are items that could be repaired/replaced (if cost isn't a concern).

Rarity? It's certainly not a machine that I've seen very often, although I do know a typewriter technician who currently has one sitting on the shelf of his shop with a $200 tag on it. According to published numbers, some quarter of a million Model 5s were manufactured between 1947 and 1950, and its anyone's guess how many survivors exist.

Rarity: Rebuilt models were a bit cheaper than other  models that were being sold next to it, since they were rebuilt, older models. To me, and Im sure many others, rebuilt machines are a bit uncommon.

Value: Something like that on eBay I would sell for about $150-$200.

TypewriterGuy wrote:

Something like that on eBay I would sell for about $150-$200.

With a cut off backspace key bar, smashed ribbon cover, and broken off carriage end cap? Most model 5s that I see on eBay are listed in the $75 to $175 range, and at the high end of that are examples in almost pristine condition.