I do not know how many folks are aware of it but there are two sets of serial number charts extant for these curved needle machines. One set was worked up my Grace Rogers Cooper, former curator for The Smithsonian. She based it on licenses sold through the Sewing Machine Combination. The Combination was not formed until, as I recall 1854, so she had to do some estimating for the first years.?
The 2nd chart disagrees on how many were made in the first 2-3 years & puts everything from that point on 1 year later than did Cooper. Needlebar used this chart & may in fact have been the formulators of it. Based on the "Few" bill of sales, Warranty cards or other known purchase dates I have managed to find, I have come to accept Cooper's dates. This would put your machine as an 1873 & Rijnko's as 1874 as he stated.
My #1 is #60,422 which by Cooper's chart makes it 1860. This is the only wide bed machine I have. The cloth plate on it measures 6 3/4" x 4 3/4".?
I have an 1870 #3 in a half case treadle as well as two extra heads, also 1870. These are all narrow bed machines & their cloth plates all measure 6 3/16" x 4 3/4". What I am trying to determine is if this slightly larger cloth plate is a feature of the Wide Bed machines, or is it just a matter of the time frame in which it was built.
The bed posts to which the plate attaches by the rapped holes are the same so the plates will interchange. All of them do have the SN stamped into the tops of the posts & all match their plates so they do all have their original plates intact.
