Richard,
Congratulations on your acquisition. – and yup, those “coils” were an original fitting!
It is basically a spring sleeve which, in theory could be displaced sideways or possibly removed for inspection. They will originally have been placed on the pipes before the connections were fitted to the ends but they can often be removed by “unwinding” them, like removing a key from a key-ring. However, if they are totally original from new then they are very likely to be corroded to the pipe and will probably disintegrated when/if they are disturbed enough to remove them.
Replacements are available in ordinary steel (as original) or stainless. There are several sources on-line – here is just one : https://www.ukmgparts.com/product/tbtc-midcat-5-subtbtc20-brakes-handbrake-brake-pipes-brake-master-cylinder/brake-pipe-protection-coil-182730
B…………….