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Chuck:
I have never seeen a Philco production run consumer product with the serial number ink-stamped on the chassis. The early color TVs went through a series of reworks. Some of those were ink-stamped with dates and or engineering-notice numbers. I owned a production model until about 1964 when I sold it to an engineering manager in the computer group.
Radio and TV run numbers were typically 121, 122, 123, 124 etc. That tracks with the Philco engineering system. Unless those numbers actually state that they're serial numbers and follow the format, I suspect they are something else or the TVs are pre-production or pilot runs. Engineering models could not be mistaken for production products. Pilot runs were ink-stamped as such.
Only regular production TVs would have qualified for the free upgrade kit. To get one, the service shop had to provide a customer name, address and serial number and got paid to install it.
In any case, the TV123s sound like an interesting find and I look forward to following the progress. I hope we hear more.
Don
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