Navajo Squash Blossom Necklace with U S Coins [SOLD]

It was ingenious of some unknown Native artist to create a squash blossom necklace using repurposed materials—United States dimes and half dollars.  I do not know who was the first to do so or exactly when the first one was made, but it was probably in the late 1970s.  Supposedly it is illegal to deface United States coins but that did not stop the creation of this and other similar necklaces.

Each bead in the Navajo Squash Blossom Necklace with U S Coins was made by forming two United States dime coins into hemispheres and then soldering them together, drilling them in their center, and stringing them for a necklace. For what is usually designed as squash blossoms, the maker of this and similar necklaces used United States Walking Liberty half dollars as replacements.  Eight half dollar coins were slightly domed, attached with a hook and strung on the necklace intermittently between dime beads.  The Walking Liberty half dollar was a silver 50-cent piece in circulation from 1916 to 1947.  The obverse of the coin features an American Eagle.  Modifying the flat half dollar coin to a slightly domed shape greatly improved the beauty of the necklace.  The flat coins would not have been as appealing.

To illustrate the time and history, here is an example of sitting US Presidents during the period these coins were minted:

1944    Franklin D. Roosevelt [Democrat]      

1940    Franklin D. Roosevelt [Democrat]      

1936    Franklin D. Roosevelt [Democrat]      

1932    Franklin D. Roosevelt [Democrat]      

1928    Herbert C. Hoover [Republican]         

1924    Calvin Coolidge [Republican]

1920    Warren G. Harding [Republican]        

1916    Woodrow Wilson [Democrat] 

The naja is more traditional to that made for other squash blossom necklaces.  It is heavy silver content and stamped with semi-circles on the face.  At the top center is a beautiful blue domed turquoise cab set in a silver bezel that is outlined with twisted silver wire.  There is no maker’s name or mark on the necklace.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: from the collection of a resident of Michigan

Recommended Reading:  Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone by Lois Jacka