Curta Calculator
Rarity	50%
Category	Tools and Technology
Time to Sell	25 Mins
Value	1,500
Prestige	41
Placed on	Shelf,
Introduced in	v1031
Involved in tasks	No
Part of a collection?	No

Curtas were actually used all the way into the 1980s, because people were uncomfortable with electronic calculators. They still demand a high price from collectors and hobbyists.

-Expert

FactsEdit

• Fact 1: The Curta is a handheld mechanical calculator introduced in 1948 by Curt Herzstark. It can perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and even square roots.
• Fact 2: Herzstark was a German Jew, and was taken into custody during World War II. His work on the calculator intrigued Nazi officers and allowed him to survive the Buchenwald concentration camp.
• Fact 3: Curtas sold for $175, but the running joke was that they really cost $475, since they often had to be reassembled for $300 by a professional after being taken apart by curious owners.
• Fact 4: Curtas saw widespread use in rally car races, since electronic calculators malfunctioned on the racetrack, and by pilots, who trusted the manual input of the Curta over an electronic calculator.
• Fact 5: Because the Curta was operated by cranking a lever on the top, it gave rise to the phrase, "cranking out the answer."