Have I got a story!!  Four years ago, I bought what I later found out to be a 1949 Royal Arrow portable typewriter, pica type.  I think I paid $40 for it, but I'm not sure.  I fixed it up, cleared up a backspace issue, shoe-polished the carry-case, put in a new ribbon, and voila!!  One nice portable typewriter.  But here's the funny thing:  My girlfriend and I were going through her father's things--some old papers he had when he was working as a car salesman in the nineteen fifties (he died in 1959).  We came across a receipt for a portable Royal typewriter that listed its serial number.  I looked that up, and found he bought a '49 model.  Just for fun, I looked at the serial number of my own purchase, and what I saw made my jaw drop completely to the floor.  The two serial numbers were Identical!!  I bought his typewriter from an antique shop!!  Since then, I call that typewriter "Daddy Sam,"  After my girlfriend's late father.  Needless to say, I am NOT selling this one--EVER!!

That's a beautiful machine. I don't think you overpaid for it, but then again, Arrows such as this one aren't exactly common here in the Netherlands (or elsewhere in Europe, for that matter).
 

Hey Uwe. Thanks. My dry spell seems to be over. I now have 4 machines to work on. Too much or happy accident. Who knows.