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Was this common practice?
While cleaning a very dirty machine and I decided to off the ID Plate.
Found that the bedplate was stamped with the same number.
I thought that was odd.

James.

I have seen that on a Model A Home.

I've seen this too.

George P.

Forgot to mention this is a Standard B
Thanks for the input!

James.

While I don't know it for a fact, I imagine that the bedplates were stamped with a serial number during manufacture, probably before painting, and that number was copied onto a patent plate in final assembly. Just a guess but it would seem logical.

I found the same on a Fireside Model A I used to own.

Steve

I have found this on a Standard A, a Home B, and a Standard E. Both Standards were sold.

I just finished restoring an Edison Standard A and found the serial number under the ID plate and stamped into the carriage rail.
I thought it was well marked.
Blain

I believe that the “hidden” serial numbers arose out of the Edison company’s increasing desire to detect jobbers illegally discounting machines. To conceal their activity from the Edison management, dishonest jobbers would grind off or obliterate serial numbers that could otherwise be traced to them. I’ve seen 2 or 3 likely examples of this kind of alteration over the years.

By the end of the New style model A Standard machines - beside the patent plate, serial numbers were also stamped in the top of the bedplate casting (as seen here), as well as on the bottom of the bedplate casting - under the motor and hidden by a smear of black stuff that resembles sealing wax. Whether or not this practice was ever useful in prosecution, remains to be seen.

- Martin