Identifying Religious Pins: St. Christopher & Madonna of the Highway

Question
Hi,I have come across several religious items that I am not able to identify. Two are about 3"x" and are metal (one appears to be silver, but is not marked it mentions St. Christopher and Madonna of the Highway and has Metal Arts Co Roch,N.Y. stamped on back - other is St Christopher is golden toned metal with enameled front back has a ST or SF with an arrow going through the second letter that makes it look like an F. Both these have two long straight pins on left and right side of the back. What the heck are these? Are they "pins" to decorate floral arrangements or priest's robes? The other is a huge 3"x 1/2" oval piece with "Mary" on front silver appearing metal (not marked, but it smells like silver!) the back has a metal piece going across the mid section that is 1 1/2"x/4" and it looks like material might go through this piece. Any ideas that you might have would be greatly appreciated. I am very curious about what these objects are and what they were used for. thanks, eleanor

Answer
Hello Eleanor and thank you for your inquiry. It is very difficult to tell anything about these items without a visual or hands-on inspection. I have a couple of websites that may be able to give you more information or at least a please to research. First is an online appraisal service that would be able to work from a good photograph of your items. Just copy and paste the below url into your browser address field and hit enter:

http://whatsitworthtoyou.com/

The next is a site with listings for vintage religious jewelry items

http://gracemary.com/

The item with the straight pins on either side could be cloak pins or clasps. Here is the contact information for Metal Arts Company in Rochester but I don't know if they are still producing this type of item:

Address: 800 Saint Paul St
Rochester, NY,
14605-1032  
Phone: 585-546-7170
Fax: 585-546-7202

Hope this helps and good luck !

Sally
jarrettsjade.com