** To understand a little about these earrings, it helps to read the info provided **

EARRING PROVENANCE:

I am very honored to have been offered some very rare gold jewelry, with many being gold coin pieces that are known to Oaxaca jewelry & that once belonged to "Ellen Belber-Jiménez" & comes from her estate.. Ellen was the wife to internationally known jewelry designer, Federico Jiménez for 56 years until her unfortunate recent passing..(Please see my vast inventory of jewelry by Federico)

Ellen & Federico met down in Oaxaca in the mid-60's while she was there working with the UCLA Oaxaca Market Study Research Project & Federico was involved at that time in writing articles on Oaxaca's traditional Arts & Culture..Ellen lived & breathed the beautiful art of Oaxaca, the amazing jewelry, the hand woven textiles, the clothing, the food,etc. & like her husband, could tell you everything about each of them & was highly skilled on each subject.

Ellen collected quite the collection, that honestly should be in a museum. Her tastes for Oaxaca jewelry were exquisite & owned nothing BUT the finest that Oaxaca offers.. These delicate coin earrings are just one example of her fine tastes for the beautiful jewelry she owned. There are pieces owned by Ellen that are also housed at their museum in Oaxaca that shares her & her husbands name ("Museo Belber Jimenez" ) which has one of the most phenomenal, historical collections of jewelry & textiles known to Oaxaca & the region..

COPY/PASTE BELOW:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150801-d10078011-Reviews-Museo_Belber_Jimenez-Oaxaca_Southern_Mexico.html

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A LITTLE ABOUT OAXACA GOLD COIN HISTORY:

The gold coin jewelry of the Tehuanas (Zapotec women-Isthmus of Tehuantepec) is rare for the fact that they are not generally for sale, since they sit in the hands of the Tehuana families & or Museums. Coin jewelry is proudly worn during Oaxaca festivities & is not a commercial line of jewelry in other words.(There are replicas made, but not in real gold) The coins are often set like precious gems in pronged bezels, with the Mexican eagle side up,or if a U.S. coin, the Liberty head side showing.

They were also used in marriage's, where the father's of the husband to be, would bring all their gold to give to the wife family & passes his wealth on. But it wasn't just these valuable gold coins that were given, but land or cows as well, that are given as a wedding payment to the family of the "bride to be" as payment for their daughter or as a dowry (money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband or his family in marriage.) So a private collection of gold coins were kept for these occasions.

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A NOTE:

The "Don Miguel Hidalgo" 2.5 gold peso was minted starting with 1918 and ending their issuing in 1948. These Mexican Peso gold coins are a symbol of Mexico's independence from Spain and they should remind people of the struggle that took place at those times and of all the people that had to die in order for others to be free. Therefore, the 2.5 Mexican Peso gold coins are of high importance to not only collectors,but to investors as well.

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THE EARRINGS:

Owning Oaxaca gold coin jewelry is the "Crème de la crème" of Oaxaca jewelry & is the finest there is & is somewhat rare... This jewelry will always be valuable & always be signature to Oaxaca. These earrings have been in storage for at least 50 years, until I was offered them.

Made in a 3 tiered design, with each tier having their own character in design.. I would say that the one thing that stands out with these in comparison to the others I have, is that with these, there's a lot of "Diamond Cutting" which is a jeweler's technique that gives the metal sparkle.(See photo 7) So when the earring moves in the light ,they give off a faceted look..

The 2nd tier is the widest part of the earring & is designed with 3 little hand made flowers (6 Total) that are lifted from the base.This section acts as the anchor for the the 3rd tier 22k gold coin "Dos Pesos" 1945 coin.The coin is bezel set in it's diamond cut bezel. . Everything BUT the coin is professionally tested at 14k gold.

They are not over the top in weight & in size, so they are nice & wearable, while giving you an authentic Oaxacan look!

**You can find in my listings more gold pieces from Ellen's personal collection,(With a few more to go) Most are under “Earrings 1” category so please check them out! **