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I don't know why I haven't asked before, but when I got my Royal KMG, I noticed a number plate on the back of it. I'm not sure what it is, for I haven't seen it on any other machines. Here's a picture:
It says "GC7178" and it's screwed onto the bottom left corner of the back. Has anyone seen this before? It's obviously some sort of identification plate, but what for? This was found in my high school, but I doubt they would go through the trouble to screw a nice metal plate onto the back.
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Most likely an inventory or ID number, probably for a larger institution (like a high school) because it's a stamped metal plate rather than just a printed sticker. Not likely applied by the factory because it's not put on straight. Some collectors prize additional bits like this as adding character but without a provenance it's not worth much.
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I agree with Michael. I have a number of machine with ID tags that were part of a corporation's inventory control. Don't forget that typewriters were very expensive machine in their day, and like any expensive equipment a company (or institution) would want to keep track of it by using their own serial numbers.
Once owned by a newspaper:
A magazine publisher:
And sometimes it's just a name that gets engraved:
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I thought it was for the school, but I just wan't sure. And there is only one other typewriter that I found another bit of history attached, and that's my Arrow with "Colbert" scratched onto the bottom of the machine. Perhaps I'll ask to see deeply buried files and paper that might have more information. I'm just glad I now know that there's is a firm history behind it, especially one that is from the town I live in. Which ups the value to me a bit more.