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1904 Oliver 3 Serial # 87205 1904 Oliver 3 typewriter, Serial # 87205 Brian Decker's 1904 Oliver 3 typewriter. 2025-12-20 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Brian Decker: 1904 Oliver 3 Serial # 87205 I won this Oliver 3 in an eBay auction in March or April of 2001. My winning bid was $83.75, and with $20.79 shipping costs, my total came to $104.54. It came with its original case and wooden base. The machine has not been restored, and needs a lot of work, but it looks good cosmetically, and I was able to produce a typing sample with some effort. The biggest problem is that the star wheel is missing a tooth, so that it skips a space periodically. To produce the typing sample, I had to back up manually, eyeball the position using the very handy index guide, and type in the missing character. Also, it's missing a couple screws for mounting the chromed typebar tower covers. The typeface is pica, looks pretty standard to me. I hope to find replacement parts for what it needs and restore it some day.

1904 Oliver 3 #87205

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Created: 12-20-2025 at 09:35AM
Last Edit: 12-20-2025 at 11:46AM

Description Hunter 17 Photos 0 Likes  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

I won this Oliver 3 in an eBay auction in March or April of 2001. My winning bid was $83.75, and with $20.79 shipping costs, my total came to $104.54. It came with its original case and wooden base. The machine has not been restored, and needs a lot of work, but it looks good cosmetically, and I was able to produce a typing sample with some effort. The biggest problem is that the star wheel is missing a tooth, so that it skips a space periodically. To produce the typing sample, I had to back up manually, eyeball the position using the very handy index guide, and type in the missing character. Also, it's missing a couple screws for mounting the chromed typebar tower covers. The typeface is pica, looks pretty standard to me. I hope to find replacement parts for what it needs and restore it some day.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

Typewriter with its case.
Typewriter with its case.

Top front.
Top front.

Top front with paper in.
Top front with paper in.

Top.
Top.

Paper table.
Paper table.

Right Quadrant.
Right Quadrant.

Right Quadrant Wide-Angle.
Right Quadrant Wide-Angle.

Right.
Right.

Right Wide-Angle.
Right Wide-Angle.

Serial Number. The carriage rail serial number is shown below in a separate photo.
Serial Number. The carriage rail serial number is shown below in a separate photo.

Back.
Back.

Back Wide-Angle.
Back Wide-Angle.

Left Wide-Angle
Left Wide-Angle

Left Quadrant.
Left Quadrant.

Left Quadrant Paper In.
Left Quadrant Paper In.

Typing Sample.
Typing Sample.

Carriage Rail Serial Number
Carriage Rail Serial Number

Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)

Brian Decker's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 577

My interest in typewriters started in 1997, when I was in graduate school at the University of Georgia. I purchased and read Darryl Rehr's book, joined ETC, and started reaching out to known collectors. I had several email interchanges with Richard Polt dating from that period. I also bought some of my first machines from Bob Aubert, and visited him at his home twice. After marriage and relocation to New England, I continued visiting antique shops and eBay, until other priorities put my typewriter hobby on hiatus around 2008. I still have my collection of around 57 machines, and now I have a renewed interest in getting some of them in good working and cosmetic order.


RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Oliver 3 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Oliver Serial Number page and the Oliver 3 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.

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