American ? Coin Silver Neck Stock Buckle Marked ZC Neck Cloth

Description

2 1/8
” long.
11.7 grams or 0.38 troy ounces.
This is a stock buckle, which has nothing to do with livestock but is a piece of jewelry worn by a gentleman at the back of his neck in the 18th century.
The mark is not known in Britain, although the buckle is stylistically very similar to ones done in  London in the 18th century. It tests to be .875 silver (by x-ray florescence). The mark is extremely small ZC and is not marked where most London marks are found on stock buckles
As I said ZC does not show up in Britain let alone London. Also first names beginning in Z are rare but more likely to be found in the US than Britain. ( most are some variation of Zachariah or Zebulon). So it seems that the buckle was either made in London of substandard purity, and not assayed or marked but exported to the US illegally, or it was made by a very competent American silversmith. I have had this piece for decades hoping to identify the maker. The truth of the matter is it seems unlikely that ZC will ever be identified. the mark is extremely small which suggests it was owned by a jeweler or at least someone who specialized in small pieces. It should be noted the mark has sharp corners and does not look like it was made by a professional die cutter, whereas London marks often have clipped or chamfered corners and were professionally cut.
So in our opinion this is an American stock buckle, by an unidentified silversmith. It seems likely the location is East Coast but not Virginia, Philadelphia or Boston, or any of the areas exhaustively covered by researchers.
If anyone has seen this mark, please let us know and we will post the information, even if it hurts the salability.
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