the czar's accountant's pencil or ... a pipe fitting?

May 6, 2022

this objet d'whatever has been in my family for as long as i, at the age of 67, can remember and for that entire time all i ever heard about it was it came out of russia and belonged to the last czar's accountant. as it happens, my great uncle carl was part of an american delegation that served in russia during that country's great awful famine, in 1921, so the accountant's pen theory has always made a kind of sense, given that the last czar's rule ended in 1917. and carl did seem to be hanging out in certain circles (in photo, he is second from the right). so there's all that. and, as the pics of the so-called pen show, a twist of the outer most element does extend the pencil bit out, as you'd think it should.

on the other hand, i took a good hard look at it the other day and, in the faintest possible lettering, saw the word "patent". that's it. nothing more. patent. which would seem to me to dash the whole pen idea unless of course it was a pen that was gifted to that soviet accountant. personally, though, i've begun to think that whatever this is, it's as likely to be a common pipe fitting as anything else.

what's it made of? i'm not sure. but the metal has no smell and a magnet is not at all attracted to it, both of which might indicate silver but then again ... nah, probably not.

in any event, what do ya'll think? thanks!