If they are hollow how do they have a stamp on the end? Thinking they are some type of drink tumbler if that end is solid.

That would be a might small drink, being 2" long.

Ever heard of Shots. Often served in what are called Shot Glasses. That may not be what they are but I used to collect drinking glasses and some of my cordial glasses are much smaller than these and they were well used before I received them.

Nope....they are just 5/8 of an inch at the top... Try pouring a shot into that.

Don't know what they are but not shot glasses.

My guess is it is a stamp used to form wax seals. When a person wished to have an important document delivered and remain unopened by no one except the intended recipient, the envelop flap was sealed. A candle or other source of melted wax was dripped onto the flap and while the wax was still pliable, the metal seal was pressed into the wax leaving an impression of its logo. The impression image was unique to the sender and gave proof to the precipitant of the identity of the sender.

Oops! I looked at the object again and what I saw refutes it being a seal. The twin Ss are facing the correct direction as viewed. Turning this tube over and making an impression in wax would produce backward letters in the wax.

5/8 inch dia. Hmmm. Isn't that about the right size for a lipstick holder? Maybe once it was part of a lipstick container.

Jemdandy's guess seems likely. It seems like the right size for a lipstick cover. But lipstick tubes are usually brass, not aluminum.

Wondering what else might have come in a tube like that besides lipstick?

Don't lipstick tubes have a turn mechanism so as the cosmetic wears down with use, the user can keep pushing out more?

I posted it on Facebook and one suggestion not mentioned here is a shell casing for ammunition.

I know about nothing about old ammo (or new!) but I think they'd have to have a hole in the side if they have a solid base like these do. Modern ones have the primer on the base which these don't have. Pinfire styles have the side primer mechanism, which these also don't have.

I wonder if the S.S. is from a ship's name - maybe identified by the crown? Something perhaps from a Steam Ship dining room?

Have you tried polishing it? Could it be a Sterling Silver symbol? Sterling is quite lightweight. Some silver polish (or creamy style toothpaste if you have no polish) should tell you if it cleans up like sterling.

My initial thought was that it came from a ship although for what use I was not certain when my drink suggestion was shot down. If anyone can identify which country used that type of crown if it is from a ship it might provide a clue. I do not think it is English. It may just be something that was given to all passengers as a souvenir.

Oly sterling is not lightweight...it is heavier than steel or tin or copper or iron or bronze or nickle or zinc....etc...

I doubt "S.S." refers to a steam ship, as if it did it would have the name of the ship as well. The crown _might_ be Dutch.

I'm wondering if they are blank ferrules for something such as swagger sticks, ready for engraving by the owner.

Not the bottom of a lipstick tube - the top/cover.

That's why I wonder what else might come in a tube like that. Makeup?

Thanks for that info Linda. I've always thought sterling was lighter than plated silver because my sterling flatware is lighter. Lighter weight has always been how I've searched for sterling pieces for sale - before I'd bother to look for a hallmark. Curious!

When they stand on end, are they flat and stable, or does the stamp make it wobbly?

Where did you get them from?

Carol, I remember those carrying devices. I have one saved from a purchase I made probably 30 years ago, never to be used again since stores don't use string any longer either.

I've had them so long, I forgot how they came into my possession. The only thing I can offer is that they may have been in a box lot of items my parent's bought at an auction (they were great auction attendees in the 1970s). I probably saw them and confiscated them thinking that were something valuable (this was when I was in my 20s). They can stand by themselves on ether end. Here is a group photo:

Curious if you look closer at the thing on the top of the crown does it appear to be a cross or a fleur de le? In the original picture to me it appeared to be a fleur de le but in the new picture it appears to be a cross. May need a magnifying glass for this.

This may be a dumb answer, but how about part of a souvenir cigar tube.

I don't think that's dumb @ all.

But why would someone save only the top?

They are all the same size, so it's not like any fit into another to make a longer tube.

I guess they could have been lids for something like a cardboard tube that nobody bothered to save. I don't think it'd be a lid for something metal or glass because there aren't any ridges like lids usually have, but inexpensive souvenir somethings could be made like that I suppose.

Match boxes that have lost their lids?

Lids might be the kind that you pry off like the tops of these ...

Or maybe a cheese tube!

Aluminum cheese tube reproduction

Matchboxes does sound reasonable! The stamp looks Swedish to me...

I thought they look like they could be decorative covers for the ends of wooden flag/banner posts. Not like a flagpole, but the kind of banners/flags that get put in holders along a wall.

Toothpick holders from a passenger ship's dining table?

The cap for a telescoping cigarette holder? Examples can be seen on etsy.com and ebay. I think several cigarette brands have used crowns in their logo.

That would be a very small piece of cheese!

and wouldn't there be pry marks?

I'm of the same mind, that there was likely another part - the bottom half - that might've been more perishable, like cardboard, or a messy lipstick receptacle.

And it really looks like aluminum to me - esp. because of the dents.

And why would an embossed stamp be on the bottom? You can see where some of those ends have been pushed in and distorted.

Are they perfectly clean on the inside, esp. @ the ends?

Hey - look @ this I just found:

They are pretty clean.

S.S. = Smelling Salts ?

On ebay there are a few bottles of Crown Lavender Smelling Salts. One comes with both the bottle and its original box. Both have crown markings, but the crowns differ on the bottle versus the box. I'm thinking the Bell's Menthol pictured above was used as a smelling salt. I suppose Crown Smelling salts could also have been packaged that way, or similarly. So that is something to look into.

Definitely, smelling salts sometimes came in tiny glass ampules that were disposed of once used because you had to break them to create and release the ammonia that did the trick. The ampules would have needed to be packaged somehow to protect them from accidental breakage; hence the little metal cylinder. (?)

Interesting items you have there!

I've seen cigar tubes with metal caps, but they were for fancy cigars. I remember Swisher Sweets, but they were more of a low-end, cigarillo type tobacco product.