Steve, Allen is right - - unscrupulous retailers occasionally found it in their best interest to grind off a serial number so the origin of a particular machine could not be traced. There's nothing else unusual about this "Home." The nickeled dataplate mounted on top suggests approx. May-December 1899. John also raises a possibility in that the machine might have been stolen. No way of knowing, but chances are that "Home" has had a colorful past. That reminds me of a guitar I bought back in 1973. I had been looking around for a Rickenbacker electric 12-string. A friend was buying an amp from a private owner about an hour from home, and I had gone along for the ride. The seller asked if anyone was interested in a guitar, and flipped open a guitar case. I was astonished to see a like-new Rickenbacker 12-string. Cradling it like a baby, I asked the fellow what he wanted for it, expecting to hear the usual $500-$700 price of that time. Instead, he replied, "A hundred." Being nineteen years old, this struck me only as a wonderful windfall, and I couldn't pay him fast enough. It was not until the next day when I was searching for its serial number that I discovered three little divots made by a drill bit to obscure the number. And that, Warden, is how I began my life of crime... George Paul -----Original Message----- From: Steven Medved <steve_noreen at msn.com> To: Phono-l <phono-l at oldcrank.org> Sent: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 12:37 pm Subject: [Phono-L] early edison home with no serial number George and list, Is it possible for an Edison home not to have a serial number? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200181396387 Steve_______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=aolcmp00050000000003