Bridging N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are rare in transition metal complexes. The silver complex 1 containing cluster of three silver(I) ions and three tridentate ligands, NHCs derived by deprotonation from 1,3-bis(2-pyridinylmethyl)-1H-imidazolium salt, [Ag₃L₃]³⁺, is an example. Short Ag-Ag distances in 1 suggest that d¹⁰-d¹⁰ metallophilic interactions might be responsible for cluster formation. A model chemistry was tested (PBEPBE density functional and modified SDD basis set/ECP) which is capable of recovering part of metallophilic interactions and applied to 1, [Ag_n(CN₂H₂C₂H₂)_n]ⁿ⁺ (2_n), [Pd_n(CN₂H₂C₂H₂)_n] oligomers (3_n), and phenylsilver clusters, [Ag_n(C₆H₅)_n] (4_n). When electrostatic repulsion does not intervene, clusters with n = 3, 4 are predicted to be most stable. NICS calculations on 2₃ indicate aromatic character, in agreement with NICS calculations published on gold analogue, while 2₄ is non-aromatic by the same criteria. The major stabilizing factor in 1 is strong NHC-metal bonding, not metallophilic intractions.