Dan beat me. It is a BU, pre 1950. The VN was changed to a V in 1949 or 50. My BF is a straight stitch model.
No, Joe, Necchis were made machines in Italy only. The New York distributor for Necchi decided to make machines and he used a Japanese factory. The first name wasn't far from Necchi - if it wasn't the same - and Necchi sued him so he changed the name to Nelco. My Japanese made Admiral looks like a clone to my Necchi and it was manufactured by Brother as far as I can find out. Some of these machines that aren't well marked can be puzzles.