Andy, Unfortunately, without some factory documentation of each model's serial numbers within a given month, exact dating for A-series Edison Disc Phonographs is quite difficult.? I've seen two types of paper license notices glued to the bottoms of these cabinets.? The earlier has no date at the bottom, and the later one has an April 1914 date.? Keep in mind that very few Edison Disc Phonographs were available to the public until Aug/Sept 1913, and the fire of Dec. 1914 put an end to most A-series production.? That gives roughly a 15-month window for most of our A-series machines.? Given the two different license notices, I break down the A-series dating to "late 1913/early 1914" and "mid/late 1914."? That's about as precise as I can get, given the limited information available. I'd be interested in seeing a photo of your start/stop mechanism.? It sounds like one I had many years ago, and I'm pretty sure that it's the earliest version.? On page 39 of Frow's "Edison Disc Phonographs...", an "A-150" is shown with what appears to be the conventional start/stop device, and this photo is dated March 2, 1914.? Presuming that all models adopted this newer design at the same time, and your "A-250" carries a pre-April 1914 license notice, I'd date it as "late 1913/early 1914."? Hope this helps, George Paul ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.