The home version of the Type N effectively launched mass-market pre-recorded entertainment in the United States. Prior to the release of the Columbia Type N 'Bijou' in late 1895, phonographs like the Edison Class M and Columbia Type K were sold for home use, but their lofty prices limited sales to the wealthy. The Type N, priced at $40, brought the phonograph into the reach of the vast middle class for the first time. Under 6,000 Type N Graphophones were produced in 1895-1896, and today it is one of the most sought-after of all the 1890's phonographs.

Even rarer is the coin-operated version of the Type N. First offered in August, 1896, it used the same heavy-duty upper mechanical assembly as the home version, but with an added coin mechanism and mounted in a large cabinet with a removable domed glass lid. (In later Columbia coin-operated Graphophones the lid was attached with hinges.) Both the home and commercial versions of the Graphophone Type N are unusual in that they have an endgate supporting the mandrel. This was used on all Edison phonographs until 1906, but only two Graphophones were fitted with endgates: the Type N and Type GG. The N is a very heavy, very substantial machine with heavy nickel plating on the entire topworks, and enclosed gears.

The coin-operated Type N was the first spring-wound coin-operated phonograph sold in the mass market (early machines were battery-powered). Unfortunately, total production is unknown because serial numbers were intermixed with the home version. It was only in the market for a little over one year, and given how few survive today the total sales must have been small. Despite the contemporary catalog advertisement which called it "cheap", the $50 price tag was formidable -- equivalent to about $1300 in today's dollars. It was supplanted in early 1898 by a less-expensive coin-operated version of the new Type A, which was only $35.

This particular Graphophone was formerly part of the legendary Ray Phillips collection, started in 1936. Ray found this machine in early 1957 and it sat untouched in his display for the next 53 years.