[Guzzman]

Hi Paul.

I'm afraid that your HMS ROYAL OAK tally isn't a genuine Royal Navy issue tally. It's actually one produced for a boy's sailor suit somewhere around the 1890s - 1900s. Sailor suits were very popular wear for boys (and, with skirts, for girls) at that time. These suits generally came with a cap tally bearing the name of a battleship and many even had little trade badges and badges of rating.

Even though it's not RN issue it's still a nice object and it's about 120 years old so worth hanging onto just as an object of curiosity.

I wouldn't worry too much about the length of an old tally - especially if it has been used. A new tally would be issued in a certain length (it varied at certain times) but would be cut down to fit the ratings cap. And many tallies may have been 'trimmed' over the years by collectors. It is common to find 'cut-down' tallies for sale which consist of just the letters of the ships name. The rest of the tally has just been cut off. This is often done as it's simpler for them to be displayed in a frame. I don't collect those myself.

I will see if I can post a nice image of a child's sailor suit for you so that you can see the sort of thing I mean. And then, if it's OK by you I'll give you a bit of background history to the RN cap tally whch might be of interest for you.

Pete