1958 Smith Corona Silent Super #5T 600414X
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Daniel Rincon (drinconv1)
Created: 04-15-2026 at 07:04AM
Last Edit: 04-15-2026 at 07:05AM
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Description:
This Smith-Corona Silent Super, serial number 5T 600414X, is one of the most satisfying machines in my collection—not because it is pristine, but because it has clearly lived a long working life and still performs beautifully. It was manufactured in 1958 and shows the honest wear of decades of continuous use, including some finish loss and two repaired typebars, yet it remains mechanically sound and writes exceptionally well.
What makes this machine especially meaningful is its provenance. I purchased it from Juan Gomez, who had himself bought it second-hand in 1973. It was originally sold in Richmond, Indiana, by Barthel & Rohe, located at 900 East Main Street. I do not know how it eventually made its way to Colombia, but that unanswered journey only adds to its character.
For me, this is exactly the kind of typewriter that rewards careful preservation: not a flawless specimen, but a durable, honest, and remarkably capable writing machine whose history is still visible in both its body and its performance.
Typeface Specimen:
Photos:
Hunter: Daniel Rincon (drinconv1)
Daniel Rincon's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 31
I am drawn to typewriters not merely as collectible machines, but as enduring witnesses to thought, labor, and craftsmanship. Each one bears the marks of a different age: an age in which writing was inseparable from touch, rhythm, discipline, and mechanical certainty. What I seek in them is not only their form or rarity, but their character—the distinct way in which each machine receives the hand, shapes the page, and invites a more deliberate kind of attention.
My interest lies as much in preservation as in use. I care deeply about rescuing and conserving these pieces of history with respect for their original materials, finishes, and mechanical integrity. To preserve a typewriter, in my view, is not simply to keep it intact, but to understand it, to listen to what time has done to it, and to intervene with restraint. These machines deserve more than restoration for appearance; they deserve stewardship.
And yet I do not regard them as silent relics. I want them close to the center of my daily intellectual life: companions in work, in study, and in the long discipline of doctoral research. In a world of distraction and speed, the typewriter offers something increasingly rare—a way of writing that restores gravity to words and intention to thought. For that reason, I value these machines both as artifacts of cultural memory and as faithful allies in the demanding craft of reading, thinking, and writing.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Smith Corona Silent Super on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Smith Corona Serial Number page and the Smith Corona Silent Super By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
