Originally Posted by HisPatchwork
It does not look like a letter is stamped in front of the numbers to me. If there is not a letter, then it is an 1885. Do you see one? Any quick ideas to just clean up the serial number plate before taking it all apart to clean thoroughly by Billy's tutorial? Or do you think it is clear enough to properly date it?
I think that might be an 'A' before the numbers. From what I've read, the model 27 didn't come out until the 1890's, and the 127 was much later. I'm finding this article very interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer_Model_27_and_127
Apparently the bobbin winder was in a low position in the Model 27 and in the high position in the 127. However, the article points out that the bobbin winder may have been moved from a lower position to a higher position. If your machine still has the mounting lug in the original lower position (and I think it does, from the picture), that may be what happened. Otherwise, yours would be a 127, which places it well into the 20th century.