Silver plate Napkin ring, ‘H.M.A.S SYDNEY’, copper with incised name, c. 1920

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Interesting silver-plated copper napkin ring, of simple concave form, engraved ‘H.M.A.S. SYDNEY’

Unmarked,

circa 1920

3.3cm high
4.5cm wide

 

This unusual piece of Australian Navy history probably dates to the period of fame that followed the 1914 success agains the German warship Emden in the Cocos Islands. It is a copper pipe offcut that has been flared at the openings and electroplated, and as wartime usage of scrap copper for such a thing would be unacceptable, would most probably date to the post-war years, perhaps made by a sailor onboard in the years before it was broken up in 1928. The other likely possibility is that it was made from parts of the fabled ship in 1928, from the scrap as it was broken up.

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