Q: I inherited this bar pin from my grandmother. I would guess it’s about 75 years old. She had women boarding in her home for extra income, so possibly the pin belong to a border. It’s made of some type of gold-colored metal. The dots are indented on the back. The pin is about 2 1/2 inches long. What do you think of it?

A: It looks like it might be more than 75 years old. Brooches or bar pins like this were used during Victorian times to fasten a ruffle of lace at the neck of a dress. One way to date a pin is to look at the clasp. Most Victorian brooches have a simple “C” clasp. Early C clasps opened downwards. Later C clasps opened upwards. The modern safety clasp that “locks” was invented in 1901 and was in common use by 1910.