Amiga 500 Serial No. 1

[amiga500]

Hi,

I've got an Amiga 500 with serial No. 1 made in W.-Germany.
Some images in my profile (album)

I've seen 3 other images of 500s with S/N: 1 on the web!

- What is the secret?
- Is it only a silly mistake by a famous company?! or somthing else?!
- Are you the owner of an A500 Serial No. 1 ? any pictures?
- Is there a former employee of Commodore who can explain it?
- ............
- ............

Hope finaly get the logical answers for these kind of questions.

Thank you.

 

[carlsson]

We discussed this machine on another forum. In all likelyhood, this is not the very first Amiga 500 to be made, not even the first PAL model. A few reasons why:

- it has Swedish keyboard, and no matter how much you love Sweden, chances are the first machines would have international keyboard

- it has a serial number of exactly 1, not 00000001 or likewise. Commodore had been around for enough number of years to know to precede serial numbers by zeroes

The consensus is that the computer might have been handled for service once, and for some reason the service people put on the "1" tag, perhaps because the original serial number had come loose or it was a major motherboard replacement so the serial number no longer would make sense anyway. It is speculated there used to be another sticker with additional digits following the first "1", but that sticker is missing.

In case you wonder, there has been at least 1-2 more Amiga 500's on Tradera in the last few years which have been sold as #1. Possibly it is the very same machine that has circulated on the market, but more likely either of the theories above is accurate and your machine is a victim of repair once upon a time.

By the way, you didn't mention your location but I strongly assume you are the seller or possibly buyer of that Amiga 500 on Swedish Tradera. If you are not - well, in that case it is even more proof it isn't accurate since in that case there would be two or more machines with serial number #1. :-D

 

[amiga500]

We discussed this machine on another forum. In all likelyhood, this is not the very first Amiga 500 to be made, not even the first PAL model. A few reasons why:

- it has Swedish keyboard, and no matter how much you love Sweden, chances are the first machines would have international keyboard

- it has a serial number of exactly 1, not 00000001 or likewise. Commodore had been around for enough number of years to know to precede serial numbers by zeroes

The consensus is that the computer might have been handled for service once, and for some reason the service people put on the "1" tag, perhaps because the original serial number had come loose or it was a major motherboard replacement so the serial number no longer would make sense anyway. It is speculated there used to be another sticker with additional digits following the first "1", but that sticker is missing.

In case you wonder, there has been at least 1-2 more Amiga 500's on Tradera in the last few years which have been sold as #1. Possibly it is the very same machine that has circulated on the market, but more likely either of the theories above is accurate and your machine is a victim of repair once upon a time.

By the way, you didn't mention your location but I strongly assume you are the seller or possibly buyer of that Amiga 500 on Swedish Tradera. If you are not - well, in that case it is even more proof it isn't accurate since in that case there would be two or more machines with serial number #1. :-D

I'm Persian. It's bought in a sealed standard company packing many years ago in Germany. I'm its first user and owner. your reason (Serial No. 1 and 000001, motherboard replacement and sticker missing) is only a guess and can be recognized by a specialist. Sure It's not the first Commodore product but maybe the first Amiga 500.

Any logical ideas?

 

[carlsson]

Well, if you do not live in Sweden, here is your counter proof:
http://www.tradera.com/auction/auction.asp?aid=108210197

This Amiga 500 with assumingly serial number 1 was sold on March 7. As you can see, it was manufactured in Germany as well. Like I mentioned, I have seen at least 1-2 more machines with the same serial number. Adding yours to the list suddenly makes at least four Amiga 500 with serial number 1.

 

[MaTel]

1. early Amiga 500 ( 1987 ) have a "C"-ommodore-Key on the left side not a "A"-miga Key.
2. if not updated, the buildin Kickstart is 1.2
3. No ECS Chips inside

I think that chassis is a replacement-chassis with a lost sticker with the full serial number.

At spring 1987 I have seen the first Amiga 500 with international and german keyboards on CeBIT-Hannover. I think, that were the first Amiga 500. I got my first one at summer 1987.

 

[carlsson]

I saw the user Amiga500 has posted on the English Amiga Board too. The guys over there have explained there exists dozens and dozens of Amiga 500 with a serial number of 1, although noone knows exactly why they appeared. Some even have Amigas with blank serial numbers.

Still, I'm sure it holds some value as a collectable if it is complete in box, good condition and one out of a series of perhaps 50-100 units which all suffer from the same serial number defect.

 

[VintageComputerman]

The lower the serial number the more valuable it becomes. I've seen a Commodore 64 with a number below 100 sell for over 5 grand.

 

[barythrin]

Agreed with the lower serial number value, so while it may not be the first or a true "1" it's probably one of the first batch produced on that assembly line which should hold some value with that. I don't have first hand knowledge of such but I do believe a lot of first runs have odd non-standard serial numbers and they'll make 20 or whatever of the systems as their first test batch but that's just what I hear not something I know factually.

 

[amiga500]

1. early Amiga 500 ( 1987 ) have a "C"-ommodore-Key on the left side not a "A"-miga Key.
2. if not updated, the buildin Kickstart is 1.2
3. No ECS Chips inside

I think that chassis is a replacement-chassis with a lost sticker with the full serial number.

At spring 1987 I have seen the first Amiga 500 with international and german keyboards on CeBIT-Hannover. I think, that were the first Amiga 500. I got my first one at summer 1987.

Did you see the S/N ?

 

[MaTel]

Did you see the S/N ?

No, but do you have some more photos of your Amiga?
Which Diskettes are delivered with this Amiga? Photos?
Which Kickstart-Version has this Amiga? Photo?
Is there a Serialnumber printed on the packing?

This discussion is a phantom discussion, when we not get more information about your Amiga