The first cash register i learned to work on in 1979 was a brass press down NCR cash register. Made if memory serves around 1920-30
My uncle was the regional service manager in Savannah Ga. when he retired and went into business with my Dad.
The brass cash registers are put together from cast brass plates that form the body of the machine using screws.
NCR by the way made their on screws that would not work with any standard american thread. (protected their business)
i have never seen one that is actually hand engraved. My uncle never told me of any that were. If there were they were rare.
The original molds were of course created by hand and the patterns were duplicated over various areas of the plates.
Sizes varied greatly. Some were almost 3 feet wide. i have one unrestored that is about 10 inches wide.
They are beautiful pieces of art when done correctly.
The one i restored in 1979 for a customer sat in our office for 33 years before the customer had it picked up.
He paid for the restoration in 1980 of 600.00.
The brass was painted black with paint similar to tar.
After many many treatments with paint remover I had to pick the remaining paint residue out of the tiny "stipple like" back ground with i metal pick. there were thousands of them!