| Author |
 Replies: 12 / Views: 678 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
848 Posts |
Now, some might say there is no such thing as good coin jewelery, and others might say that this topic belongs under "Numismatic Crimes", but I posted this in the Recent Acquisitions thread earlier, and I'm wondering who has something comparable. I have a habit of purchasing brooches made from coins, and having them re-fashioned into tie bars (for neckties). I have a fascinating one made from circa-1915 Finnish 25 pennia silver coins, and another made from gilded George VI Canadian cents. But I picked this wretched thing up at a coin show in London (yes, in England) where I happened to find myself a couple of months ago.  If you must make a Maundy set (this one is from 1895) into a brooch, fine! But why in the world would you overlap the portraits this way? |
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
18807 Posts |
Oh dear!  At least it was a Victoria Old Head set. They are among the most common Maundy sets, as (a) Queen Victoria was very old, so more were required for ceremonies, and (b) in those days, collectors could order extra sets from The Royal Mint, a practice ended in 1908 by King Edward VII. |
|
Bedrock of the Community
 United States
27512 Posts |
What a shame!  This one arrived in a kilo lot of world coins - a brooch fashioned from three US 3 Cent pieces.  Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
|
|
Moderator
United States
195742 Posts |
Oh my!  |
|
Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21792 Posts |
Must have been made a long time ago
when the silver price was very low.
Maundy coins of this period were often pierced for jewelry making.
A much smaller proportion of the general population at that time was interested in coin collecting.
|
|
Moderator
United States
34553 Posts |
I think that I've got something that fits in well with this thread! Despite the woefully out of focus pix, hopefully you can see the 2 1/2 Dollar coin in the center of this brooch. The outer two discs are also reeded, but are so thin as to have zero remaining detail from the host coin. At one time I had pondered trying to separate out this into its constituent pieces, but haven't quite made that decision yet.    "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
79155 Posts |
Dang. Errers and Varietys.
|
|
Moderator
United States
107076 Posts |
wow, those are just terrible.
|
|
Moderator
Australia
17002 Posts |
Quote:
If you must make a Maundy set (this one is from 1895) into a brooch, fine! But why in the world would you overlap the portraits this way? Given the dates on the coins, I am guessing that it was made in 1897, the Queen's diamond jubilee (60th anniversary of reign). Cheap and not-so-cheap Queen Victoria souvenirs of all kinds were being made and sold back in 1897; it wouldn't surprise me that some jeweller, rather than making and selling their own medals, bought a few surplus Maundy sets and "added value" by turning them into a brooch. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
848 Posts |
I don't disapprove of making coins into cufflinks, but I'm not sure what is going on with these Indian Head cents. It rather looks as though they've been bronzed, which is a strange thing to do to a bronze coin, but either it was not done well or perhaps the bronzing has worn off. Also the mounting frames strike me as kind of awkward. The coins themselves seem to be heavily worn, or perhaps excessively polished. If you look through the backing, you can barely make out the shields.   |
|
Moderator
United States
107076 Posts |
They could have tried to use the same date for a matching pair.
|
|
Moderator
United States
195742 Posts |
Very interesting!  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
848 Posts |
People who try to make coins into jewelery often begin with gold plating. This does not necessarily go well — I recall getting an Eisenhower dollar at the bank once, which I carried for a year or more, with a very weak and uneven plating. It looked rather sick. The Swiss 1 centime pieces on these cufflinks are unevenly plated, so that the color varies noticeably (to the eye, under daylight, at least). In addition, one of them has the stem of the cufflink bent over at an angle, while the other sticks straight out. Both styles are common, and either would be fine as long as both were done the same way. Unfortunately my photos don't show either annoyance with particular clarity.    |
| |
Replies: 12 / Views: 678 |
|
Posted 01/30/2026 03:16 am
