Roman Hound Coin Necklace

More than two thousand years ago, a hound ran across a Roman coin.

Struck in 74 BC, during the final decades of the Roman Republic, a silver denarius issued by C. Postumius carried a striking image on its reverse: a lean hunting hound running at speed above a horizontal spear, with the issuer's name below.

It is a wonderfully vivid design.

Unlike the formal portraits and symbols often found on ancient coinage, this image feels full of movement. The hound stretches forward in mid-stride, its body elongated with energy and purpose. Even now, the little silver coin retains the liveliness of the original engraving.

Coins like this were practical objects of exchange, passing through many hands in daily Roman life. Yet they also carried messages of identity, memory and imagery, preserving names and symbols long after the people who issued them were gone.

The Roman Hound Necklace brings this remarkable coin image into the present.

Shinar transforms the reverse of the denarius into an irregular golden pendant, retaining the running hound, the spear beneath it and the inscription C POSTVMI. The result is a jewel that preserves not just the appearance of the ancient coin, but also its sense of motion and vitality.

A small image struck in silver in the Roman Republic becomes something to be worn once again.

A Roman hound, struck again in gold.