1916 Corona 3 #95609
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Created: 01-02-2026 at 01:47PM
Last Edit: 04-11-2026 at 06:34PM
Find on Ebay #AD
Find on Etsy #AD
Description:
2026-Apr-11 Update. No longer my oldest portable, as I now own Standard Folding #1 S/N 5147 (see linked gallery).
2026-Jan-02 Gallery Creation. This is the oldest portable typewriter in my collection, and one of my only two Corona 3's. This machine came to me from Bob Aubert in 1998, along with a factory-refurbished Corona 4, S/N V4P08545, which I also plan to upload to TWDB at some point. Bob charged $150 for the Corona 3, and only $15 for the factory refurb Corona 4; in some respects, the Corona 4 is more interesting b/c I have not seen another refurbished Corona 4 in battleship gray before, so they can't be too easy to find. In point of fact, I didn't pay anything for either machine, because my parents picked up the tab for my 1998 Christmas present.
This gallery creation date (1/2/26) is the first time I have typed out a full sample on this 1916 Corona 3. It has not been restored, except for a new set of feet purchased this year, and it sorely needs the platen and rollers re-finished. As the typing sample below may suggest, the line advance does not feed the paper forward evenly, due to lack of grip on the paper by the rollers. I had to work on the escapement mechanism today, even to get it to work at all. The typeface is Pica, and disregarding the line advance issues, the characters are pretty well aligned on a line-by-line basis.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
Photos:
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Brian Decker's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 2072
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.
In late 2024, I started up again, working on my machines and having some of them serviced professionally by New England Typewriter (NET) LLC (Merrimack, NH), until they closed their doors in December of 2025. Since mid-2025, I have been adding to my collection again, first with a Hermes 3000 purchase from NET, then with various auctions and purchases on eBay, when I find something that catches my eye.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Corona 3 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Corona Serial Number page and the Corona 3 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
