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Here's the answer...
It's a cylindrical nutmeg grater. Nutmeg graters were relatively common for an uncommon spice-nutmeg. It was grown in the Maluki Islands and protected by the Dutch. It became a very popular spice that was used especially in drinks. People would carry their own nutmeg berries in silver containers which often opened into another compartment which had a "holed" grinder like a food chopper. They were often made of silver and some in unusual forms (like the cylindrical one). Today a collector will pay $500-1000 for a good one.

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