Page 1 of 5

Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:23 am
by badpenny
So what machine would you swop your Granny for?
Although I flip between Wall Machines and Trade Stims, I always return to my original favourites ... bandits, and this is the one for me, I have never seen one (except in Dieter Ladwigs book page 56) Crown, obviously by Ainswick/Aristocrat..............

AussiePoker.jpg
AussiePoker.jpg (14.37 KiB) Viewed 9422 times

I think it is the most imposing bandit ever. !!THUMBSX2!!

Has anyone got one?
Seen one?
Know where there is one?
Want my Granny?

What machine that you're unlikely to ever see let alone own would put your Granny on the endangered list?

@&@

Re: Is your Granny at risk?

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:45 am
by longbobongo
Wow nice machine never seen it before.

For me it would have to be a floor standing Caille.



Maybe oneday......

Re: Is your Granny at risk?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 3:32 am
by john t peterson
I want to trade my Granny for HER!

J. Peterson
Your American Swap artist

Re: Is your Granny at risk?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:15 am
by badpenny
No need John, apparently she's only $29.99 ............. you want us to have a whip round for you?

Re: Is your Granny at risk?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 6:45 pm
by jingle
there are only 2 known coronets
and my friend has the other one thats not in the book
and its a beauty and the 1st one made [no1]
and he may well sell it
but you will have to dig deep
very deep

Re: Is your Granny at risk?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 8:36 pm
by badpenny
Go on then make me cry I can cope :cry:

Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:23 pm
by badpenny
Topic merged - site admin.

I posted this a few years ago, and somebody replied saying they knew of one in UK........... !!YIPPEE!!

Image

......... then it all went quiet.
!!GRUMP!!
Anybody seen one?

Re: Arcadian Bonus

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:30 am
by andydotp
G'day from Melbourne, Oz, Badpenny et al,
Your 'Dream Bandit' with a crown on the belly, could it be the Middlehurst Coronet (first version) as in Ladwig's book on p56??
Not a great restoration as the paint was obviously stripped off but re-applied (possibly?) with the colours back to front and paint on castings not lining up plus straight-edged rather than scalloped as it should have been.
And it's a 6d re-badged for the US dime.

I have what I'm led to believe is The First Ever produced sample of this machine - and its from Sept. '54 (I have the patent). Yes! it IS the 'dream machine'.....

Will have to learn how to up-load pics if anyone's interested.
Cheers,
A.

Badpenny's post with bandit picture merged above.
See How to Upload Images - site admin.

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:18 am
by andydotp
Wow!, people responded! Awesome, thx all.

Yep, I do have the Coronet - first one by all accounts (and serial number). From what I gathered from the guy I bought it from about 8yrs ago he was 'forced' to take it as part of a job lot of jukeboxes and Bally machines and whilst really liking it, mechanical 3-reelers didn't really do much for him.

Anyway, apparently when Len Ainsworth (Aristocrat) was buying up every other slot company in Oz ('cept Nutt & Muddle/Jubilee thx to the govt.) in the '50s
he kept this particular machine for over 30 years in his headquarters.
I can honestly say it has the smoothest mech of any I've owned. Flawless operation and fantastic workmanship but way too liberal due to (I assume) no mathematical equations being done on the reel strip combinations - hence almost every other pull throws up a winner!
How on earth the other ended up in The States has me baffled - unless it was sent there as a promo or something. Anyone know who owns that one?
Wouldn't mind repatriating 'her' and sitting it alongside mine..

Or swap for a Clown catcher.... hold on, only kidding.

As for grannies.... why swap it for an eighty yr old when you can have four 20yr-olds...?
Laters.
Andy.

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:41 am
by gameswat
Hey Andy, Rory here, how's it going. Been a while since we last talked. You were thinking of selling some machines at the time. As for how that Coronet ended up in the states, I imagine it was shipped over mixed in with old US made product. Bob Klepner has told me stories of a dealer selling new slots in the '70s (Ainsworth I think) and he was clever enough to offer trade ins on obsolete equip. He knew the yanks were paying serious cash for the good stuff so he sent countless Watling and Mills back home and made great profits for his trouble. A major reason it's so hard for us to find anything left in Aust! :(

I've also heard stories of massive loads of containers shipped from the UK, 40 from one dealer! And judging by the amount of great British and Euro machines floating around over there I don't doubt the stories for a second.

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:35 pm
by badpenny
Thanks guys for responding to this thread. I really envy you that machine, thanks for sharing the stories. Is there really only two of these beauties extant? :#:

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:31 am
by andydotp
Cheers Rory, (Hi Badpenny), good to know you're still slotting over there in the West. Recall you have (had?) a very broad collection.
Yes, you're correct, I tried to sell my entire collection of 21 machines but ebay booted them off, and Trading Post & Gumtree had no luck so they're still sitting here around the house.
Maybe I ought to try the Market on this forum??
I'll see if I can upload some pics - but Badpenny might turn a rather green colour (good taste - it really is a fine piece).
Cheers,
Andy.

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:42 am
by gameswat
Hey, I still have a ton of stuff, mostly awaiting attention of course, and currently in the US buying up. Recently bought some rare pieces that I've been having great fun researching. And off to Chicagoland at the end of the month.

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:49 pm
by treefrog
andydotp wrote:Cheers Rory, (Hi Badpenny), good to know you're still slotting over there in the West. Recall you have (had?) a very broad collection.
Yes, you're correct, I tried to sell my entire collection of 21 machines but ebay booted them off, and Trading Post & Gumtree had no luck so they're still sitting here around the house.
Maybe I ought to try the Market on this forum??
I'll see if I can upload some pics - but Badpenny might turn a rather green colour (good taste - it really is a fine piece).
Cheers,
Andy.
Why not share with us what you are looking to sell, I am sure there may be a few people interested.....

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:54 am
by andydotp
Cheers T-F,
If work didn't consume my every waking moment I'd try n upload all my machine pics here.
Must get onto it - 14 machines left - up for grabs, here in Melbourne including my Coronet and a cast iron 1910 Mills Operators Bell.
Regards,
Andy.

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:22 am
by badpenny
You would have to wait until the day before I finish my job before teasing me with a Coronet! :dammit:

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:36 pm
by gameswat
Hey Andy, did you import the Operator Bell yourself from the US or find it locally?

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:31 pm
by andydotp
Hi again Gameswat, Badpenny et al,
I bought the 1910 Mills Ops Bell on ebay and had it flown out of Florida. It arrived three days after I clicked 'pay now' on Paypal.
Awesome..Got it from 'Jukebox Eddie' aka Catalino-Bambino. We did the transaction live over the phone watching our respective screens... was fun.
Cheers,
Andy.

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:44 pm
by silverbitz
Some photo's would be great. Always time for new additions,
Ha..wife's just moaned at me for tripping over my Mills horsehead bonus 'out back'!.

Re: Middlehurst Coronet

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:53 am
by andydotp
Actually Silverbitz et al, I sent my slot pics to our host over the past two days - Coronet included. Hopefully they'll appear sometime soon, if not I'll get a tech-savvy mate to upload 'em. If they do get uploaded, compare the difference in the belly paintwork, it was scalloped and the colours were the other way around and line up nicely bwn top & bottom casting.. Also my cabinet is nicely laminated and the 'three aces' denominator wording is recessed not proud. Subtle differences.

To concur with our twice-divorced friend Badpenny, Yup, machines anywhere you wanna put 'em.... :HaHa:
Regs to all, Andy.