Posted 2 years ago
mateukay
(1 item)
Hello,
I have got it from my great grandmother and wonder what year is it and also if it is worth anything. Just would like to understand a bit more of its history too, not sure how old it is.
Singer 12730667 | ||
| Sewing27 of 2539 |  |  |
Welcome to CW. Very nice machine your grandmother gave you. I like the hand crank option. Kera will be pleased to see this and will explain everything you wanted to know about your machine.
Hi, mateukay. :-)
dav2n01 could have told you about this machine, but I suspect that he didn't want to deprive me of the pleasure. };-)
So, you've inherited your great-grandmother's hand-crank sewing machine. Very cool. <8
Per the Singer serial number tables at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society website, serial number 12730667 falls into this range:
*snip*
12,475,500 13,387,999 1895
*snip*
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-no-prefix-serial-numbers.html
Having rolled off of the assembly line circa 1895 means that your sewing machine is a bona-fide antique.
The no prefix serial number table gives no information as to models or factories, but people who are used to looking at vintage sewing machines can tell right away from your pictures that it's a vibrating shuttle.
It has certain tell-tale features like the trapezoidal access door, the circular needle plate, and the long dual slide plates:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singer.Model27.IdentificationGuide.jpg
It's a bit difficult to tell from your pictures which specific vibrating shuttle model it is, but if I had to guess, I'd say a model 28. You can check your machine against the distinguishing characteristics in the chart at this webpage:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/28
I'll give you links for several different Singer Vibrating shuttle manuals. The big difference between models 27/127 and models 28/128 is size, the former being full size, and the latter being three-quarter size:
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/singer-model-27-number-2-vibrating-shuttle-sewing-machine-manual.pdf
http://needlebar.org/manuals/Singer28.pdf
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/127-128.pdf
The decal set on your machine looks like "Victorian":
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/decals/decal08
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php/Singer_Machine_Decoration#NB_.2331_Victorian
I'll give you links for both of the two big Singer factories:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/elizabethport
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/kilbowie
As to value, that's territory where I typically don't tread; however, if you have other questions, just ask them here in a comment.
Here is my collection of vintage sewing machine links if you want to explore on your own:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/285089-help-for-vintage-sewing-machines
Hi again, mateukay. :-)
I was a bit constrained for time when I commented yesterday, so I'm following up today with a little more information.
The reasons why I typically don't get involved in valuation are (1) historically, it's been discouraged in the Collectors Weekly Show & Tell forum (2) it can be a minefield, and I'm not a fan of minefields.
However, some people need an appraisal for insurance purposes. If you need that, your best bet is to get it appraised locally.
If you don't want to do that, you might consider this free advice from one of the experts at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society website:
https://ismacs.net/sewing_machine_articles/how_much_is_my_sewing_machine_worth.html
What I can tell you about the rarity of a Singer model 28 sewing machine is that it isn't rare.
I did a rough count of Singer model 28/28K machines in a spreadsheet composed of all the Singer serial number tables at ISMACS (International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society), and by totalling the allotment blocks column for model 27 machines, I got 6,420,708 (this doesn't include the pre-1900 machines, for which there is no model number/allotment block information).
For comparison's sake, there were only 535,150 Singer model 48 machines made. The information at needlebar dot org bears me out on that figure:
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php/Singer_48K
So while there were over six million model 28 machines made, there were only a little over one half million model 48 machines made.
As to which factory made your machine, it's difficult to say for sure, but if you don't see any "Made in Great Britain" information anywhere on your machine, then it likely was made at the big Elizabethport NJ factory.