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BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace
BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace
BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace
BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace
BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace
BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace
BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace
BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace
BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace

BCE Jewelry

BCE Ancient Byzantine Coin Necklace

$1,600.00

In the first half of the 14th century, Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos introduced the basilikon, a silver coin largely created to pay mercenaries. Although it was new to the Byzantines, the design itself was not entirely original— Andronikos was such a fanboy of the Venetian ducat, he simply copied the coin and swapped out depictions of St. Mark and Doge of Venice for likenesses of himself and his son/co-emperor. (However, he did keep imagery of Christ on the obverse of the coin, lest his pettiness warrant divine wrath.) He produced the basilikon for a few decades before its retirement in 1367. Now the basilikon lives only in the annals of history, or of course, encased in the gold of this stunning pendant.

  • Rare Byzantine silver basilikon 
  • Approx. 20.75mm diameter, 25mm including 14k bead detail 
  • 14k gold hand-fabricated bezel 
  • Pendant on 20” 1.5mm rounded box chain 
  • Made by BCE Jewelry in Carmel Valley, CA