The 2,000-Year-Old Jewelry Trend Fashion Can’t Quit
Hailey Bieber, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Emily Ratajkowski, and more have adopted the thousands-year-old tradition of diamond coin jewelry.
Dakota Johnson at the Bulgari Studio Party during New York Fashion Week on September 4, 2024. (Getty Images)
As historic jewelry trends come back into style, natural diamond-embellished coin jewelry is finally experiencing the revival it deserves. Dating back to ancient Rome and the Byzantine Empire, coin jewelry has been treasured for centuries, from Egypt and India to Renaissance Europe. Often worn as symbols of protection, these coins feature everything from ruling emperors to Indian deities, Greek gods, and other revered figures.
Modern history has seen coin jewelry make several comebacks, from 1970s bohemia to 1990s Chanel costume jewelry sweeping the runways. Today, the hottest jewelry designers are crafting ultra-desirable coin jewelry dusted in natural diamonds.
Meet the Expert
Gurhan Orhan is the founder and designer of GURHAN, internationally recognized for pioneering contemporary jewelry in pure 24-karat gold.
Working directly with the metal by hand, he uses ancient goldsmithing techniques to create pieces known for their warmth, texture, and individuality.
His designs often bring together natural diamonds, gemstones, historic coins, and collected objects — giving materials with a past a new life as highly personal wearable works of art.
Enduring over millennia, Gurhan Orhan, founder and designer of GURHAN, tells Only Natural Diamonds, “A coin contains human history; a natural diamond contains the history of the earth.” He says, “Ancient coins absorb light; diamonds release it.”
“The diamonds should never compete with the coin. They should wake it up. They may illuminate a face, follow the rhythm of an inscription, or create a halo around something that has survived for centuries. The coin has already had one life. The diamonds help me give it another.”
Here, learn all about the history and evolution of coin jewelry and how natural diamonds have breathed new life into the ancient technique.
The History of Coin Jewelry Spans Thousands of Years
For centuries, coins have been incorporated into jewelry by many different cultures around the world, seen in every echelon of society. With artifacts discovered in Egypt, North Africa, and the wider Mediterranean, coin jewelry dates back as early as the Hellenistic period, with evidence that it was transformed into pendants, bracelets, belts, and rings throughout the Byzantine Empire.
During Late Antiquity, master antique goldsmiths encased coins within ornate settings of elaborate gold openwork motifs and busts sculpted in high-relief frames for the most resplendent of medallions of leaders such as Constantine the Great. More modest iterations featured bronze coins, simply pierced and strung, for universal appeal, regardless of social status. However, the more coins and jewels one wore, the higher the wearer’s class. Cherished as an heirloom, coin jewelry was frequently the result of generations of collecting.
A coin’s value was directly tied to its weight in Byzantium. Just as now, the state strictly controlled coin production. While bronze and silver coinage were the most common, rarer solidus and tremissis coins circulated in the economy. Beginning in the fourth century CE, the primary gold coinage was the solidus, which weighed roughly 4.5 grams. Coins have also frequently appeared in traditional Indian jewelry, as well as in Renaissance jewelry.
Coin jewelry was even thought to unite a commoner as the wearer and an emperor as the depicted. Once a ruler was illustrated on a piece of coin jewelry and worn against the body, the practice was thought to bring the two closer, bridging the gap between classes and invoking the protection of the emperor. Many believed these pieces to be talismans as well, supernaturally protecting the wearer against misfortune, illness, and evil spirits.
Perhaps this is another kind of reincarnation: the person disappears, the empire disappears, but the object survives and returns with a new purpose.
“People began wearing coins almost as soon as coins existed. They were worn as signs of wealth and allegiance, but also as protection, memory, and good luck,” Gurhan Orhan says. In the late 4th-century, church officials even criticized the wearing of coin jewelry in place of protective amulets and charms. One artifact of a pierced bronze coin of Justinian I includes a Greek inscription, which translates to “Lord Protect the Wearer.”
“A coin is much more than money,” says Orhan. “It can be a portrait of an emperor, a religious symbol, a political message, or a small record of a lost civilization. Once worn on the body, it becomes personal. It may have belonged to someone two thousand years ago, and now it belongs to someone today. That continuation fascinates me.” He continues, “Perhaps this is another kind of reincarnation: the person disappears, the empire disappears, but the object survives and returns with a new purpose.”
Bulgari Honors Ancient Coin Jewelry with the Monete Collection
A.D. 81 -96), and pavé-set diamonds. (Courtesy of Bulgari)
Among the most celebrated Bulgari motifs, the Monete style mounts antique coins into luxurious pieces in homage to the long-standing jewelry tradition, dating back to Ancient Rome.
The Italian jewelry house began incorporating 2,000-year-old coins into its creations in 1966, blending features of Rome’s imperial glory with contemporary aesthetics thanks to “enthusiastic coin collector,” Nicola Bulgari, grandson of the company’s founder, Sotirio Bulgari. Each jewel showcases the unaltered coin, engraved with the emperors’ names, the dates of their reign, the origin, and the type of coin, in a perfectly contoured setting. He experimented with coins to be set within chokers and brooches before compiling a winning collection of long cascading statement necklaces.
12 bronze coins, 7 silver coins, and pavé-set diamonds. (Courtesy of Bulgari)
with mother-of-pearl, 2 silver coins, 6 bronze coins, and pavé-set diamonds. (Courtesy of Bulgari)
Internally, the Italian jewelry house referred to these ancient relics as “coin gems.” Honoring history, Bulgari carried on the tradition of setting coins in jewelry, preserving rarities from the ancient Mediterranean and European pieces from the 5th-century BC, as well as American coins from the 20th-century.
Replete with cultural currency, Bulgari’s Monete assortment includes high jewelry, rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, secret watches, objets d’art like ashtrays, boxes, and more.
Brand ambassador Anne Hathaway can count herself a fan of the creative spin on antiquity. For the London photocall of The Odyssey, Anne Hathaway looked the part of a Grecian goddess in an angelic white dress with Bulgari jewels. The Academy Award-winning actress wore an 18-karat rose gold Monete Catene High Jewelry secret watch. Featuring a chain bracelet set with natural diamonds, the silver coin bearing the effigy of Emperor Caracalla (who ruled from 198 to 217 AD) opens to reveal a mother-of-pearl dial and diamond indexes.
In 2023, Hathaway attended the Met Gala, donning a vintage-inspired Atelier Versace tweed deconstructed safety-pin gown with natural diamond Bulgari High Jewelry featuring ancient coins as modern jewels.
Paying tribute to Rome’s fantastic history, Hathaway wore the jeweler’s custom Monete ancient coin choker, held together by a diamond-studded collar with a myriad of Monete coin rings, mixed with diamond Serpenti rings. That year, the Gala celebrated the life and work of Chanel creative director, Karl Lagerfeld, who was known to incorporate large gold coin belts, charms, and pendants throughout his collections.
The Crown Coin: A Diamond Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II
In 2023, the East India Company unveiled a large gold coin, produced in honor of Queen Elizabeth II on the first anniversary of her death, embellished with 6,426 GIA-certified natural diamonds.
Roughly the size of a large dinner plate or a basketball, the piece, appropriately named “The Crown Coin,” has been crafted from nearly 8 pounds of gold. With a diameter of over 9.6 inches, the special, solitary luxury coin features a collection of 11 24-karat gold coins, with the centerpiece coin weighing in at over 2 pounds.
Six of the surrounding coins represent the guiding virtues as seen on the Victoria Memorial outside of Buckingham Palace, such as courage, justice, truth, victory, charity, and consistency. The five others chronologically showcase the Queen’s portrait clockwise, including the Machin portrait and the Jody Clark portrait. The reverse face of the masterpiece reveals a center coin from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, including the memorable inscription of the 70 years of her reign, from 1952 to 2022.
On one side, the abundance of diamonds is arranged to simulate the United Kingdom’s flag, while the reverse side diamond setting was inspired by the late monarch’s intricate tiaras. Collectively, the two-billion-year-old stones are estimated to weigh over 475 carats.
The one-of-a-kind commemorative piece has been described as an “objet d’art” by the company and is engraved with quotes from Queen Elizabeth. On the side, it reads, “With age comes experience, and that can be a virtue if properly used. By being willing to put past differences behind us and move forward together.” On the other side, the border includes an inscription from her first televised broadcast in 1957 – “Throughout all my life and with all my heart I will strive to be worthy of your trust. The things I have here before promised I will perform and keep, so help me God.”
The Chairman and CEO of the East India Company, Sanjiv Mehta, estimates the tribute to be worth “around $23 million” based on the quality of the materials and lengthy crafting processes, which called in artisans from the UK and India to Singapore, Germany, and Sri Lanka and took over a year to produce in partnership with the British Overseas Territory of St Helena. The project was already in motion before Queen Elizabeth died at the age of 96 in 2022.
The majestic homage may very well be among the most valuable coins in history, with its estimated price exceeding that of the rare 1933 US “Double Eagle” coin, which yielded $18.9 million at Sotheby’s New York in June 2021 and now holds the Guinness World Record as the most expensive coin ever sold at auction.
The It-Girls Bringing Diamond Coin Jewelry Back
Contemporary designers are putting their money where their mouth jewelry is, integrating coins covered in natural diamonds throughout their collections. Whether boasting the symbol of the zodiac or other meaningful, heartfelt messages, coin jewelry has become a customizable favorite among the celebrity circuit. Hailey Bieber, Taylor Swift, Emily Ratajkowski, Rihanna, Dakota Johnson, and many more are including coin jewelry in their rotation.
The celebrity allure isn’t new. Even Elvis was known to cherish his coin jewelry. He was known to wear a 1914 US $2.1/2 dollar gold coin ring surrounded by 35 round diamonds, totaling approximately 0.70 carats, in the 1970s. He was later said to have gifted it to Memphis Mafia member Dave Hebler. He also wore another gold coin ring featuring an 1853 U.S. Gold Liberty $2.50 coin surrounded by a halo of natural diamonds that he wore in the 1970 MGM film, Elvis: That’s the Way It Is.
Jewelry brands like Marlo Laz, Anita Ko, Lionheart, FoundRae, David Yurman, Gurhan, and more have adopted the traditional custom, covering them in dainty yet intentional diamonds.
Harwell Godfrey’s new collection, Gold Rush, pays homage to California’s Gold Rush and the enduring allure of gold. Diamond-embellished horseshoes, arrows, and coins are reimagined as modernist talismans. Her Heads or Tails Coin is a reversible pendant with one side of the coin featuring the head of a horse with the label “Heads,” while the back features the horse’s backside, labeled “Tails.” Her Lucky Penny design is available in a ring, necklace, and pendant, with a diamond-encrusted 1 cent, with the back cleverly reading the old adage, “Find a penny, pick it up. All day long, you’ll have good luck.”
Designer Gurhan Orhan feels “strangely connected to the ancient world.” He explains, “Sometimes I joke that perhaps I am a reincarnated goldsmith—or that I have done this work before in another life. Ancient techniques and objects never feel foreign to me; they feel familiar.”
Orhan says, “Coins are especially powerful because they have already lived a life before they come to me. They have passed through many hands, crossed borders, survived empires, and carried the faces and symbols of civilizations. My work is not to make them look new. I surround them with hand-hammered gold in a way that respects their age and allows them to begin another life as jewelry.”
Orhan finds his coins by working with trusted dealers, collectors, auctions, and relationships he’s developed over the years. “I never search for the rarest or most expensive coin. I am looking for one that speaks to me,” he says. “It may be the expression of a face, the strength of an animal, a beautiful symbol, the wear around the edges, or even an imperfection.”
Shop Ancient-Inspired Diamond Coin Jewelry
1856 US 1$ Gold Coin Ring w/ Diamond Halo 14K/ 18K Gold, $4,640, eragem.com
Sylva & Cie Helios Diamond Coin Ring $21,250, shop.mitchellstores.com
Bulgari Monete 2.25-Carat Diamond Antique Coin Earrings, $65,000, shrevecrumpandlow.com
Azlee Dionysus Large Coin, $5,400, azleejewelry.com
Gurhan Antiquities Gold Coin Single Drop Earrings, $2,200, gurhan.com
Common Era Circe Demi-Goddess of Witchcraft Necklace with Diamond, $5,000, commonera.com
Dubini Athena Ancient Silver Coin Medallion 18 Karat Yellow Gold Necklace, $17,168.62, 1stdibs.com
Gurhan Antiquities One-of-a-Kind Gold and Diamond Coin Pendant Necklace, $34,800, gurhan.com
Bulgari 18K Ancient Coin, Carnelian, and Diamond Monete Pendant Necklace, $19,596.50, therealreal.com
Azlee Olive Branch Large Pave Coin, $8,500, azleejewelry.com
Gurhan Antiquities One-of-a-Kind 24K Gold Coin Pendant Necklace, $13,530, gurhan.com
Sylva & Cie Constantine VII Byzantine Bronze Coin Pendant,
$12,500, shop.mitchellstores.com
Jorge Adeler 18K Yellow Gold Diamond Alexander the Great Coin Pendant, $12,490, bloomingdales.com
Bulgari Monete Catene High Jewelry Secret Watch, Price Upon Request, bulgari.com
Azlee Goddess Large Pave Coin Charm, $8,500, azleejewelry.com
Ancient Greek 5th Century BC Silver Medusa Coin Diamond 18K Gold Pendant, $3,120, 1stdibs.com
Bulgari 18 Karat ‘Monete’ Diamond & Gold Coin 32″ Long Necklace, $305,000, shrevecrumpandlow.com
Azlee Owl Wisdom Large Pave Coin, $8,500, azleejewelry.com
Bulgari Monete 18kt Gold Earrings with Diamonds, 4th Century Coins, $16,918.79, 1stdibs.com
0.12 Total Carat Weight “Roma” Large Coin Pendant, $3,700, shrevecrumpandlow.com
David Webb Liberty Head “Coin” & 1.6-Carat Diamond Pendant Necklace, $34,000, therealreal.com
Bulgari Monete Chalcedony & Diamond Necklace, $475,000, shrevecrumpandlow.com
14 Karat Coin Pin with Diamonds and Rubies, $3,750, shrevecrumpandlow.com
