Historical information

The story of this item is unknown. It may have been part of a man’s watch chain, with the watch missing. Its weight suggests it is an item of good quality, one owned by a person of substance and a common item for a wealthy man to have in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Significance

This item, in our collection for many years, has no known provenance and is kept for display purposes.

Physical description

This is a silver chain with silver links with a metal match holder at one end, a silver container in the shape of a ship’s wheel in the middle and a locket or coin holder at the other end.. The match holder is heavily patterned, the ship’s wheel container may have held coins in the past as it is recessed at the back and the locket or coin purse is ornamented and contains what looks like a coin, perhaps a threepenny bit from the time of George V or V1. The coin could be Australian or English.