A curious find from near Braidwood NSW -a bronze Koi fish -but what is it for ? Length 8cm

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Old gold mining town and could be a chinese artifact.
Yes I believe it's Chinese. And it is curved so that , for instance, it fits snugly on your knee, not that I'm suggesting it was designed to do that. I found three of the things. Everything else there is mid - late 19 Century so probably of this vintage.
 
In the pic, we're looking down on the fish from above, but it's weirdly asymmetric, with that looks like a hole for hanging it at the top and a big cutaway in the same position on the bottom - maybe a bottle opener or peeler of some sort.
 
The underside is plain - a little grainy. Maybe it was cast into a mould. No part of it is sharp. I have 3 of these, all from the same place, and the scales are all slighty different on each piece. Someone has suggested they are symbols of rank in an early Chinese army, but what are they doing on the Southern Tablelands of NSW. I did find a 18th century Chinese coin 500 metres away.
 
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