What does this emoticon depict? If "@" is a paperclip then what is "c=" intended to represent?

The emoticon as a whole is a paperclip. The @ represents the part of it where the inner loop terminates to make the wire-tab that clips from the front of the paper (along with the outer coil that is near this). The c= represents the other end of the paperclip, in the part where the wire is still looping around.

Could you post an image or a string of these characters forming a paperclip?

I didn't record the unicode characters or their appearance, so I can't. However, if you imagine a paperclip lying horizontally and cutting it into three character-sized pieces, that is what those symbols look like.