However, I have a Traveller with serial 15-3846368 and the number 73. This serial fits in the year 1977. My theory is the number is the production year of the frame, not the typewriter.
So if there's no serial and only a number, we can only state the typewriter is produced AFTER the year represented by the number. As my Traveller demonstrates, it's not an accurate measurement for the production year of the typewriter (the frame was created 4 years earlier).
Any thoughts or information about this subject is greatly appreciated.
For whats it worth, I've completely disassembled a Traveller, the casted frame actually consists out of 3 moulded parts, each with their own year-stamp. In this case, the parts were from 78, 79 and 80.