Sterling Ball Thingy.... have no idea what it is

[SeekSilver]

This little guy is about an inch and half long, "Sterling" stamped on one side and "Pat April 24 1894" on the other. I tried looking it up online but no luck. Help me out if you know or have any good guess what it is.

 

[allison86]

Maybe from a toy?

 

[Anduril]

I looked, but didn't see an exact match but I breezed through this pretty quick, so I may have missed it.

Maybe you will have better luck? There were not very many US Patent granted in April 1894: Only about 400 utility patents, and 20 or so design patents.
Maybe this is patented overseas?

Anyway - Here's the USPTO Gazette for the date in question:
The Utility patents start on page 409, and Design patents on page 520.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89095060836;view=1up;seq=644;size=150

The closest thing I saw was Patent 518,595 (See page: 413).
That patent is for a "Cuff Button". Image below.
It's the same basic shape as yours, but the ends are a little bit different, and it mentions something about one end being detachable, which your photo doesn't seem to have. (?)

 

[2Minnesota]

Sweater guard? Cuff link? Or spoon rest came to mind for me.

 

[BagLady]

I think Anduril nailed it. French cuff cufflinks. Pretty neat!

 

[tamrock]

I also think Anduril has identified correctly.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Prior to reading the remainder of the post following the initial question, my first thought was cuff link. Congrats to Anduril for nailing it.

 

[Tony in SC]

I first thought cape fastner? Tony