ANCIENT ROMAN COINS, A CENTURIES-OLD HISTORY
Jewels and gold coins have always been a symbol of wealth, flowed into Roman Empire thanks to oriental conquests starting from the first century B.C.
During Emperor Adriano’s empire, coins were used by the Romans as talismans and amulets and were a symbol of power so people used to wear them . For this reason, people started to use coins as jewels and it became very popular around III and IV century A.C.
Items available were six: pendants, necklace locks, pins, bracelets, rings and belts. It was certainly a symbol of power and status as long as they represented the imperial effigy.
Jewels were dressed up with a frame of “opus interrasile”, an important technique which consisted of creating themes in a metal plate after making a first draft. This allowed Romans to have a difference in weight between the heavy coin and his light support.
