The used typewriter market is full of language that means nothing. "Vintage." "Beautiful patina." "Untested but complete." Every one of those phrases is a way of moving a machine without committing to a claim. A grading standard exists to make claims — and to make them small enough that buyer and seller can actually verify them.

Why grade at all

Two things fail without a shared scale. First, remote buying becomes a coin toss: a machine described as "excellent" arrives with a cracked platen and a bent segment shift, and no one can prove that the description was wrong. Second, insurance and estate work grinds to a halt, because appraisers cannot compare like with like. A working standard fixes both.

The scale below has five active grades. I ignore the wider ten-point scales because the middle rungs are indistinguishable in practice, and honest sellers gravitate to five.

The five grades

G1 — Museum

Cosmetically indistinguishable from a new machine. No paint loss beyond microscopic edge wear. Decals crisp and unbroken. Nickel and chrome bright, without pitting. All original consumables present (ribbon spools, case, key card, instruction booklet) or period-correct replacements. Types every letter cleanly on the first sheet. Fewer than one machine in three hundred grades here honestly.

G2 — Collector

Excellent cosmetics with minor, honest wear: hairline scratches on the paint plate, faint decal loss on high-touch letters, small dulling of nickel. Fully mechanically sound; a light service brings it to daily-writer condition. Case present, latches functional. This is the top grade most buyers ever see.

G3 — Working

Solid daily user with visible wear. Paint may show larger scuffs, especially at corners and under the carriage. Decals may be forty to seventy percent intact. Types correctly after routine cleaning; no bent typebars, no cracked frame. Platen may be hard but still gripping paper. The most common grade in the market and the most honest bargain when priced well.

G4 — Project

Mechanically incomplete or requiring bench work beyond routine service. Frozen segments, seized carriage, missing feet, split ribbon spools, damaged case. Cosmetically may be excellent or poor — condition is not the constraint here; time is. Buy G4 machines only when you have the tools, the parts source, and the calendar to actually finish them.

G5 — Parts

Frame damage, cracked casting, missing typebars, warped carriage, corroded segment. Nothing wrong with owning parts machines; everything wrong with paying user prices for one.

The ten-minute inspection

Bring a flashlight, a blank sheet of paper, and a pencil. Do not press keys before running the visual sweep.

• Look down through the segment. Every typebar should sit at the same height and lean the same way. A single tall bar means impact damage.
• Rock the carriage side to side with two fingers. Any grinding indicates a dry or worn rail.
• Press the platen with a fingernail. A firm indentation that springs back is good; a nail that leaves no mark at all means the rubber has fossilised.
• Pull one typebar to the platen by hand. It should return under its own spring. Two seconds is normal; slow crawl is dried grease.
• Roll in the sheet and type the alphabet, twice. Missing letters, doubled letters, and letters that print higher or lower than their neighbours all tell you something specific.

Photograph every finding as you go. A grade you can defend with photographs holds up in a dispute; a grade written from memory does not.

Recording the grade

Two lines on an index card is enough: Condition G2 · Originality: original paint, replacement ribbon, correct case. Add the serial number, the date of inspection, and your initials. That card, taped inside the case, travels with the machine forever and saves the next owner from reinventing your work.

Grading is not glamour. It is the small, repeatable habit that keeps the hobby honest and keeps beginners from paying G1 prices for G3 machines.