Money clip in sterling silver · struck 925

A plain money clip in sterling silver, bent into a U, with its spring intact. The inside is struck 925 — the fineness mark for sterling.

925 parts per thousand of fine silver, the rest usually copper. Pure silver would be too soft for objects in daily use — the alloy makes it hard enough for a clip to keep its tension over decades. Which is exactly the case here: the spring holds.

Beside the 925 there are further struck marks, worn and not reliably legible. No maker is therefore claimed — anyone reading them under a loupe will know more.

Not an ornament but a tool: smooth outside with fine ribbing at the head so the thumb can grip. The dark areas are silver sulphide — the normal tarnish, removable with a silver cloth. Leave it and you get the contrast between polished contact surfaces and dark recesses.

• Sterling silver, struck 925
• U form, spring intact
• Ribbed head
• Further marks present, not identified

Good, tarnished as unpolished silver is, spring holds, no distortion, mark visible.