Exhibition soundbox question

[nostalgia]

Here are some more photos from inside the machine. About this lock, I have no clue myself, but it is an interesting idea if it could have been coin operated. Actually, after being re motored it is now impossible to open the lid, so I can see no traces if if there ever was a hinge lid on top. The new windup mechanism is something that I have never seen before, but I also have not seen too much of such mechanisms, of course. The new mechanism makes it impossible to open the lid, so one has to remove the bottom board to access the "new" double spring Thorens motor.
I tried to take one photo of the inside area where the lock is situated on front, we can maybe see the wood is lighter at the area where the lock is situated, but I don't know if it tells anything.

[epigramophone]

The question is, why have a lock there at all?

The only reason I can think of is if it was a coin operated machine.

A coin operated machine would usually have a lockable drawer at the bottom of the case. Even if this machine originally had such a drawer, it still does not explain the presence of a lock below the motor board.

[gramophoneshane]

Not all coin slot machines had a drawer. Some had the slot on the motor board or the front/side with a coin box inside the case.
Obviously this machine never had a coin slot though.

[nostalgia]

When talking about Exhibition sound boxes, of possible German origins, I can buy this one, if I want,,for €60, including a horn gramophone, with a Lindstrom motor inside. But what do you say about this Exhibition, it looks more genuine to my eyes, and...it says..made in Germany.
I have quite some spare Exhibition sound boxes at hand, so...a "surgery" could also be performed here, to have the "Made in Germany" plate transferred to another Exhibition sound box not as rusty as this one...