Handmade in North Africa

Moroccan - Ethnic Amazigh

Antique coins 114 years old

Two available, one with a ring, one without   

Indigenous silver - probably 70% - 80% 

Please note - this is not 92.5 silver.  These are historic pieces that were not trying to conform to international standards of metal purity. They were for local use.

Weight - 1.6 ounces each

Interior ring diameter - 1.5 inch

Stick length - 2.5 inches

Total brooch length - 5 inches

Width - 1.5 inches

These silver coin brooches were made from full Moroccan Rial denomination coins.  The coins were minted in the Muslim year 1331. It's currently 1445.  

Amazigh jewelry often uses coins. Women literally wore their wealth. In addition to these coin brooches, women wore necklaces with coins ornaments and headdresses adorned with coins.

The wires for these pins is fairly large, robust and shows wear in particular places, indicating how a long-term owner must have positioned it on a daily basis. It's feasible to use these pins with weights up to super bulky.  The pins are quite heavy so will not be suitable for very fine fabrics of fingering weight yarn unless the styling is well-supported.

The hole in the bottom of the shaft of the pin can accept a fairly thick chain or cord, allowing the pin to be worn as a pendant. The ring would have connected to a necklace strung between two brooches, which would have been worn at the front of each shoulder. One of the pins still retains the ring that connected to the necklace.