Navajo Turquoise and COIN silver antique necklace

Navajo coin silver jewelry is the jewelry made when the Navajo first began making silver jewelry in the late 19th century. The Navajo got silver coins from the U.S. Calvary and the trading posts. The Navajo melted them down into ingots and other silver forms. They then would hand forge or hammer the silver into jewelry such as bracelets, hatbands, and "ketohs" or wrist bow guards. Navajo coin silver jewelry often had some faint residual impressions from the coin design. Navajo coin silver jewelry is very collectable and has a beauty of its own. The Navajo coin silver jewelry was made by melting silver pieces together in an open pit fire or a blacksmith forge with bellows. The bellows blew air on the fire to make it hot enough to melt silver solder, which laminated their silver jewelry designs together. Navajo coin silver jewelry refers to the alloy which came about from the melting of coins. The coin silver used in Navajo coin silver jewelry has less silver than sterling silver (90% as compared to 92.5% in sterling). However since it is older and hand hammered, the coin silver jewelry might be even more valuable then jewelry made from sterling silver. https://nativoarts.com/blogs/news/navajo-coin-silver-jewelry