lner co pay checks puzzle

[checkmate]

Hi, I have got quite a few brass pay checks stamped -lner co-and a number, al normal until I discovered that the numbers were triplicated (3 of each), I also realized that they were in sets---1 with a segment cut of--1 oval---and 1 round, can anybody throw some light on this? photo attchd,thanks

 

[DelW]

Since no-one has appeared with any actual knowledge, I'll offer a bit of speculation:

• The issuing company seems to be the pre-grouping North Eastern Railway, rather than the post-grouping LNER.
• I wonder whether the company issued a new series of tags at intervals, changing the shape to identify the new issue. A bit similar to modern companies issuing new security cards and disabling the old ones, to prevent use of expired, lost or stolen cards.
• If so, maybe someone like a station master collected and retained the old ones, forming your collection. The consecutive numbers might suggest that they were all issued for one location (though no 763 seems to have gone AWOL).

All guesswork on my part though