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Addendum to 'The Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators'
"S"

The Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators lists over 1,500 models of early pocket calculators from over 220 companies and provides an excellent source of information on early hand-held calculators.  However, since it was published further models have come to light and are listed here.

If you have an early pocket calculator (from the 1970s with LED, vacuum fluorescent, discharge, or early LCD display, and battery powered) which is not in The Collector's Guide, please email the details as in the list below for inclusion here.

Details for each calculator are required in the format used in the book, and below:
Manufacturer or Trading Company, Model Name or Number (there may be more than one), Functions, Display Type, Battery type (and if rechargeable), Size, Country of Manufacture, any Interesting Features.

A small frontal photograph (jpeg format, about 600 pixels max dimension) of each would be useful and will be included with the details if of good quality.
Please email with details.

New Calculators

Latest Update - latest additions have the date added.

Displays are 8-digits unless described otherwise.

Go to   S

 

S

SAFT LECLANCHÉ (French company)

Sakura (Japanese company)

Sandvik Coromant (Swedish company which describes itself as "the world's leading manufacturer of cutting tools for the metalworking industry")

Samsung (South Korean company)

Sands

Santek

Santron (Santron Electronics Co., Ltd.  Sold in European market.)

Sanyo (Japanese manufacturer)

Sanyu Sangyo (Japanese manufacturer)

Satek

Saxon

SCAT (SC Applied Technology Inc., South Carolina, U.S.A.)

Sceptre

Scientec

SCM (see Smith Corona Marchant)

Scomark (European market calculator)

Sears (U.S. (Sears, Roebuck & Co.) and Canadian (Simpson-Sears) department store chains)

Semicomps Limited (British marketing company. See also Calate.)

SENATOR

SENECA

SERD (German company)

SETICO

Sharp (Japanese company) Models often marked "ELSI" or "Elsi Mate" .

Sheen (San Rafael, Clifornia, U.S.A.  Member of the Hutchinson Group of Companies.)

Shibuya

Shira

Silver Reed (Silver Seiko International, Japan. European market calculators)

Sinclair (English company.  For further details and photographs see Sinclair calculators on the associated Vintage British calculators site.  Some models available as self-assembly kits.

SINCOM

Singer-Friden (U.S. company)

Sinoca

Smith Corona Marchant (SCM) (U.S. company)

SMOP Digital  Systems Ltd. (Rotorua, New Zealand)

SOGEP

Solitron (Solitron Devices Inc., West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.)

SONCATRON (SONCA INDUSTRIES LTD.)

Sonix

SONODIS

Soundesign

Sovereign (Harris Overseas Ltd., Harvard House 14 Thames Road, Barking Essex, UK)

Sovrin (Singatronic Private Limited, Singapore. Marketed in Europe. Several Sovrin models were sold under the Plustronics name.)#

Specialized Electronics Corporation (SEC) (U.S. company)

Spectrum (U.S. company)

Sperry Remington Rand (USA company)

Spiegel (see Argyle)

SPINOLA

Starshine (U.S. company)

STRAMARK

Strand ("Supplied exclusively to W.H. Smith by Decimo".  Similar models are branded "Decimo".)

Student

studioSonic

Sumini

Summit (U.S. company.  See the article "Summit: a Man and the Idea" on this site.)

SUNNY

SUNTORY (Japanese drinks company - probably advertising item)

Supacal (Manufactured by Advanced Telecommunications Equipment Ltd. (ATE), England, and marketed through Computer Ancillaries Limited. See also Calate.)

Super Cal

Superlectron (Netherlands company)

SUPERLEDTRON

SVM

Syntronix (Sang Young & Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea)

Systema

 

 

Click to go to :
Calculator Book Addendum A-B
Calculator Book Addendum C-D
Calculator Book Addendum E-I
Calculator Book Addendum J-O
Calculator Book Addendum P-R
Calculator Book Addendum T-Z

 

Key to Abbreviations

Functions:
4-funct = 4 basic mathematical functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
sci-funct = scientific or engineering functions (logarithmic and trigonometric functions such as log, sine, and cosine and usually memory, square, pi, etc.)
mem = memory
% = percent function
exp = exponent
paren = parentheses
pi = pi value
recip = reciprocal
sgn chg = sign change
sq rt = square root
sq funct = square functions (including square and square root)

Battery Type:
button rep batt = very small, disk-shaped, replaceable batteries commonly termed button-types, used mainly in LCD models.
rep batt = replaceable batteries (such as 9V, AA, C, and N batteries)
rep batt pack = replaceable batteries in a removable pack
sealed batt = rechargeable batteries sealed in the case
sealed batt pack = rechargeable batteries in a removable pack

Display Type:
See the section on Calculator Displays for more detailed information.
Displays have 8 digits unless specified otherwise.

COS-LCD = Early Liquid Crystal Display from Sharp showing silver digits on a dark background. COS stands for Crystal on Substrate. This display was used as early as October 1973 but eventually was phased out.
fluor = see VFD.
Gas discharge = Display containing all digits sealed in a single package employing  gas discharge to generate light in the same way as a neon lamp. Normally give amber- or orange-colored digits, and typified by the Panaplex® used by a few calculator manufacturers.
LCD = Liquid Crystal Display, a flat, gray-digit type of display type that uses less power and was embraced by calculator makers by the end of the 1970s. Early versions (used in the early 1970s) by Rockwell and Sharp are included in this guide.
LED = Light Emitting Diode display (usually red although sometimes a purple filter was used to color the display). LEDs often have small half bubble-like covers over the digits. tube or mini-tube = separate vacuum or fluorescent tube for each digit of display.
Yellow LCD = Early LCDs had a reliability problem with ultra-violet light and manufacturers used a yellow-colored filter over the normally gray display to remedy that. Refinements in later LCD designs removed the need for the filter.
VFD = Vacuum Fluorescent Display. Display containing all digits sealed in a single tube generating light from an electrical discharge onto a fluorescent material. The color of the digits is normally green or blue, or somewhere in between.

Other Information:
Klixon keypad = Texas Instruments Klixon® keypad was one of the earliest keypads and used greatly by Bowmar and a few other early calculator makers. It had the four basic functions and used metal key pads about 1/2" square.
Japan (for example) = country of manufacture as stated on calculator
RPN = Reverse Polish Notation, a method of calculating and user data entry used by HP calculators. A few other manufacturers also used RPN in more limited scale.
"aka" (also known as) is used when there is another name or model variation on the calculator.
"c" (for example, c1973) is used as "circa," denoting at approximately that time.

 

A big thanks to Thomas Brockmeier, Richard Brooks, Andrew Davie, Larry Gilbert, Niels Grot, Palmer Hanson, Steve Haynes, Robert King, Kent King, Jeff Lane, Philippe Leckler, Ken Meine, Bob Patton, James Redin, and CB Wilson for their help.

 

How to Buy the Book!!!!

Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators

by Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm

This 204 page, softcover book is the world's most comprehensive listing of electronic pocket calculators from the 1970's, the so-called Golden Age of Pocket Calculators.  Over 1,500 known calculators are detailed with information on features, size, display type, power type, and pricing.  In addition, when known, the listing also contains date of sales, original pricing, and country of origin information.

The book features over 470 photographs of various models from over 240 manufacturers around the world (including calculators from lesser-known companies in England, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, and Russia).

"The Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators" includes a comprehensive value guide to help you gauge rarity and desirability of the various models -- especially as they relate to each other.

The book can be purchased for $20.00 plus $5 for USA mailing ($10 for first class mailing to Canada, and $23 to other countries).  California residents please add $1.86 state sales tax.

For payment by PayPal, or for additional details and information, contact co-author Guy Ball.  Guy is happy to sign the books if asked.

 

Copyright ©1997 Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, ©2002-2024 Nigel Tout

Vintage Calculators

Text & photographs copyright, except where stated otherwise, © Nigel Tout 2000-2024.