Coronet Basket Case?

[matty]

I'm not really sure why I bought this one:



I think I felt sorry for it, it was stuck in a very low end "we buy your scrap gold, tv, dvd" sort of place and was only £4. The body is in horrendous condition, rusty and mucky with the leather peeling off, but the lens, shutter, iris and bellows seem to be ok, so I think I might be able to take it apart and refinish the body.
I not sure what model it is, I know Coronet were based in Birmingham and seemed to produce cheaper model cameras but not much beyond that. This one takes 120 film and the lens is marked 100mm, Anastigmat, F6.3 Any ideas would be much appreciated.

[Stephen]

Coronet were the British Camera industry at one point after the war! They out lived Ensign and Kershaw. They started in the 1930's, in Aston, Birmingham, and specialised in using Bakelite plastic mouldings after the war, manufacturing cameras for the French market as well.
Large quantities were made to sell cheaply via chemists wholesalers, rather than the Photographic shops.
Usually well made, but at a low price, the lenses are very modest, usually fixed single element types made by British Optical Ltd for the Coronet company, which lasted till 1967. The owners felt they could not invest to compete with 126 and 110 cameras.
Stephen.