Trying to date a Mills 'Diamond front'

[jerryt]

hello, all.

I'm trying to put an approximate date on my newly acquired 'diamond' front.

Points I have noticed so far
Base and sides showing signs of the copper pink spray finish (the wood is light coloured and almost certainly not oak)
Insides, gold
Diamonds, so signs of being other than the polished silver finish
Anti drill plates on the insides.
No signs of any chrome at all
Cast iron construction.
No number stamping on the base at the back where one would expect to find to on a post war machine

Given that the UK would not have imported such a frivolity in the 1939 to 1945 period and it is fairly unlikely that a new (or second hand machine) would be imported in the immediate post war years as the UK had a huge export drive to get foreign currency and limited unnecessary imports this points me to pre war... (Or have I missed something significant?)

But when?
Over to the experts, can you help me please?

best
JerryT

[Critterpainter]

I am by no means an expert but most pre-war Mills slot machines were aluminum front castings. WWII drove up the demand in the states for aluminum so Mills looked for other sources for the front castings and cast iron front became a "thing". I would hazard a guess that your machine was built during this time.

[jerryt]

This is the concision I’m rapidly coming to… while it should not have come to the UK in the war or after the war… it did!