• Where your money has been
• Rare currency
• John B. McNamara's jewelry
• Ancient Greek coin pendant
• Ancient Roman coin earrings
• Gray & Sons, coin jewelry
• Money clips
• Bulgari

Ka-Ching, B-Bling

Anyone who's ever been handed a dollar bill scribbled with a name or e-mail address has been forced to think about all its previous handlers, but it's not so often that you come across truly special currency from long-ago times and places - coins that have value far greater than what they may have been worth once upon a time. Lucky for us, some people seek out these monetary finds, from rare American pieces to foreign types, and make ka-ching into a whole new thing: jewelry.

"Coins are like little time machines . . . they're historical records."

John B. McNamara, a jeweler in Altamonte Springs, FL, works mainly with Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Celtic, and Biblical ancient coins. "Someone came to me with an ancient clay token that he wanted me to mount," he says.
"I thought, 'Wow, this thing was held by somebody!' I was completely fascinated."

"Coins are like little time machines," explains McNamara, who's been working with coins for 12 years. "Unlike precious stones, coins have great stories behind them - they're historical records; they're facts."

McNamara makes custom pieces as well as pendants, earrings, and rings. His Greek coin pendant of Dionysus, the god of wine, dates back to 148 B.C., and a pair of Constantine Roman earrings are made from 4th century coins and are set in 14-karat yellow gold - it's difficult for McNamara to match a pair because each coin was individually made.

Some companies, such as Gray & Sons in Miami Beach, FL, offer similar styles; others offer ready-made money clips and jewelry made from more recent currency. Then there are coin jewels that can cost a real pretty penny - certainly more than the original worth of the piece of change: The luxury Italian firm Bulgari has long been known for using mostly ancient Roman coins in chunky gold necklaces.

The history of the coin itself means no two are alike. "You won't ever go to a party and say, 'Oh, she's got one like me,'" McNamara says. Flaunting money - or at least getting decked out in sparkling coinage - has never been as great an idea as it is today.

Posted on March 06, 2006