Early 1900s Coin Silver & Turquoise Thunderbird Pendant Unique Silver Content!

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Antique Navajo Silver & Turquoise Thunderbird Pendant Pre-1920 Combination of U.S. Coin & Mexican 8 Reale Piece! Probably Designed to Hang From a Horse Bridle's Browband! Backstory: This wonderful antique piece of Southwestern Native Americana came from the estate of a 40 year collector. The collection included quite a number of pieces of antique coin silver jewelry, but this is one is special. This all hand made, hand stamped, hammered, & domed concho pin started out life as coins from 2 different countries! We work closely with Prospector's Gold & Gems and sometimes huddling over the XRFS gun (see below) that verifies metal content can be a kick! We'll spare you the technical metallurgical lesson we were given by Dave, the refiner & Master Goldsmith, who also deals in rare coins (you probably don't want to hear about "ion migration") but that darned technological wonder can tell someone who really knows alloys what kind of coin was used by Native Americans for pieces such as this in the days before casting grains and Sterling sheets were readily available in the Desert Southwest! This extraordinary pendant has a metal content that combines early U.S. coins and at least one Mexican 8 Reale piece! The last 8 Mexican Reale coins were minted in 1897! Although this piece is so old we don't really need to do it, let's get the disclaimer out of the way right off the bat: This is an antique pendant, handmade in Navajo style, with age, materials, and techniques consistent with a pre-1920 time period. Unless the original tags and paperwork are still attached to a piece of "Old Pawn," it has not necessarily actually ever been pawned. This has become a general term that roughly characterizes older pieces, which admittedly drives specialty dealers up a wall. Without pawn tags, the age of any piece can be approximated, but it is always a reasonably educated guess and the exact year is always arguable, so it is possible that this piece could be a few years either way--but not by much. Also, Native American jewelry of this period was generally unsigned. Aside from cultural aspects of singling out an individual, the pieces were made for personal use or as gifts and everyone involved knew perfectly well who made them. Over the generations, jewelry moved out of the family. It was passed down. Or sold. Or, yes, pawned. Or any of the thousand things that can draw a curtain over the origins of vintage and antique jewelry happened to it. Now no one knows who made it, which can create a problem. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, no seller can claim a piece of jewelry is Native American made unless it is signed by a recognized artist of a recognized tribe. There is provision for items made in the mid-1930s & before but, as we said, exact year of creation was not documented on these pieces, so we must repeat that we do not know the name of the maker. The pendant is so overwhelmingly Navajo in style, there is no doubt that he (usually "he" in this era) was of that tribe. Is there paperwork proof? No. Please do your own research about any and all "Native American" purchases you are considering. Ebay has some excellent user guides. Ask us if you have any further questions. We will answer to the best of our ability. We believe that the most appreciative buyer is one who is well-informed about what we are selling. Size: This pendant is approximately 2 inches from the top of the bail to the bottom of the tail feathers and 1 and 3/4 inches wide at the base of its wing tips. Stone: The roughly 1/2 inch, circular, natural turquoise bead in the center, of good quality and light blue/green color may or may not have mellowed in color since it was set. It has some of the characteristics of Santa Rita Turquoise, but individual stones this old can be hard to pin down for certain, so please take that as a descriptive guide, not as a guarantee! Details: This thunderbird pendant is of museum age and quality! We explained the silver content. The design and workmanship are testaments to a very fine, very early ... read more

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