Ancient Coin Jewelry

Ancient Coin Jewelry from Israel

An ancient coin is a piece of currency that once passed from hand to hand in the streets of Jerusalem, Caesarea, Jericho, or Sepphoris. It bought bread and oil, paid temple taxes, settled debts. Two thousand years later, the same coin can be worn around the neck. That continuity (object, place, time) is what makes ancient coin jewelry feel different from any other category in our workshop.

Every coin in our collection is sourced through licensed Israeli antiquities dealers and approved for resale by the Israel Antiquities Authority. The most common coins we work with are bronze prutot from the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties (the small denominations used for everyday transactions in the late Second Temple period), Roman provincial bronzes struck in Caesarea and Tyre, silver shekels and half-shekels from the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 CE), and the famous Bar Kochba coins from the Second Revolt (132-135 CE), which were overstruck on Roman coins as a deliberate act of rebellion. The small bronzes often called "widow's mites" (the lepton and the prutah) are referenced in the New Testament and remain among the most accessible entry points into ancient coin jewelry.

Our goldsmiths set each coin without altering its face. The reverse and obverse remain visible through the setting, and a thin bezel of solid 14K gold or sterling silver wraps the edge to protect the coin from contact and wear. Where a coin is particularly fragile, we offer encapsulated settings with a thin protective cover. Coins can be set as pendants on gold or silver chains, as rings (typically larger statement settings), as earrings (matched pairs), and as cufflinks (a popular Bar Mitzvah and groom's gift).

Every piece of ancient coin jewelry from Baltinester ships from Jerusalem with two pieces of documentation: an Israel Antiquities Authority export license proving the coin's legal status, and a certificate from our workshop identifying the period, ruler, and approximate date of striking. Because each coin is genuinely unique, the photograph on the product page is the exact piece you will receive. We do not produce ancient coin jewelry in batches.