The Curta.org Bulletin Board

[txnhealthnut]

Early Type I Curta for sale. Manufacture date Sept 1948. Serial #5227 - Prime number. Curta is in excellent condition. Metal case has only minor wear marks. No wear marks on Curta. Seems to still be in working condition (although I have not tried to operate it). Manual is intact but is worn from use.

Pictures available here: http://amarillo.craigslist.org/clt/5290870549.html

$2000 OBO

[murff]

Hi txnhealthnut

Your offered Curta has serial number 7558 (date of manufacturing: July 1949).
5227 is an owner number - not from the Contina factory.

And the crank is not the original metal version which fits to this type of production.

So I would offer US$ 750.00
_________________
:: m u r f f
:: curta.li

[txnhealthnut]

Hi murff

I am not a Curta expert. So you may be correct about the serial number. However, the plate with the number 5227 is not an attached piece. It is embedded into the metal housing of the base. As for the crank (and all of the rest of the device) it is metal and this Curta has never been repaired. I inherited it from my grandfather who was the original owner.

I would appreciate any advice from those who are experts in this area. Thanks for your input.

[murff]

This is a metal crank:



and this one is plastic:

(it's called "Delrin")

In 1949 the plastic crank doesn't exist...
_________________
:: m u r f f
:: curta.li

[Pete]

Zing. U/txnhealthnut, u/murff is about the most knowledgeable Curta guy out there, he runs a Curta website. And he's right on both his points, and he's right on the price. Best of luck with the sale, and feel free to direct any Curta expert you find to this site to argue the toss about cranks and parts etc., if they disagree with Murff's (correct, incontrovertible) assessment of your machine.
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Cheers, Pete

[txnhealthnut]

My apologies to murff. Thank you for your expert advice.