How Much Did the Xerox 914 Copier Cost in 1959?
By the Price Time Machine team · Updated
The Xerox 914 price was $27,500 in 1959, when Haloid Xerox showed the first plain-paper office copier. Adjusted for inflation, that is about $316,241 in September 2026 money, roughly 11.5 times the original price.
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Xerox 914 copier at a glance
- US launch price
- $27,500
- In today’s money
- ≈ $316,241September 1959 to September 2026 (CPI-U, BLS)
- US release date
- September 16, 1959
- Where the company was based
- Rochester, New York, United StatesMade by Haloid Xerox, based in Rochester, New York.
- Category
- Big purchases
- Price source
- en.wikipedia.org
Today’s price is the US launch price adjusted for US inflation with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, comparing the launch month with the latest published month. It updates automatically as new figures come out.
Did people really pay $27,500?
Very few did. Xerox preferred to rent the 914 out. In 1965 the rental cost $25 a month plus 10 cents for each copy, so offices paid for what they used.
That deal made copying easy to start and very profitable for Xerox, because busy offices made thousands of copies.
The Xerox 914 price in today’s money
Inflation means a dollar buys less today than it did in 1959. Using the US Consumer Price Index, the original Xerox 914 price of $27,500 works out at about $316,241 in September 2026 money, around 11.5 times the original figure. That is what the same amount of spending power would cost now, not what a Xerox 914 sells for second-hand.
When was the Xerox 914 released?
It was first shown to the public on September 16, 1959, at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York.
Where was the Xerox 914 made?
It was made by Haloid Xerox, a company founded in Rochester, New York, in 1906. The copying process it used, xerography, was invented by Chester Carlson and his partner Otto Kornei in 1938.
Xerox 914 facts you might not know
- Xerox once ran a TV advert showing a trained chimpanzee making copies. Offices complained that colleagues started leaving bananas on their copiers, and the advert was pulled.
- It made copies on ordinary paper, with no special coated paper or chemicals.
- The 914 was named after the largest paper it could copy: 9 by 14 inches.
Frequently asked questions
How much did the Xerox 914 cost?
The Xerox 914 cost $27,500 to buy in 1959. Most offices rented it instead.
How much is $27,500 from 1959 worth today?
Adjusted for US inflation, the Xerox 914’s $27,500 price is about $316,241 in September 2026 money.
How much did it cost to rent a Xerox 914?
In 1965 it cost $25 a month plus 10 cents a copy.
Why was it called the 914?
Because it could copy paper up to 9 by 14 inches.
Want to compare the Xerox 914 price with other launch prices? See what the Xerox Star cost, browse more famous launch prices, or play this question in Price Time Machine.
Sources
Launch prices and dates are checked against the sources below. Today’s price is calculated from official US inflation data and updates automatically when new figures are published.