The history of late antique coin-set jewelry is the history of the unofficial reception of an official image: the imperial portrait. Nearly four hundred gold coins set in jewelry survive from the third through sixth centuries C.E.; these coins are invariably framed in such a way as to display the imperial portrait. This dissertation examines the use of the imperial portrait throughout the corpus of late-antique numismatic jewelry, in both East and West, from the third through sixth centuries C.E. It argues that, while the use of coins in jewelry could be subject to different motivations in diverse times and places, the imperial portrait was both visually and conceptually central to the construction of coin-set objects. A series of case studies explores the making and use of numismatic jewelry as a phenomenon of the frontier and in relation to the imperial court. It is argued that coin ornaments were worn primarily by women as protective amulets in their roles as wives and mothers. An examination of the use of numismatic jewelry in funerary and cultic contexts gives further evidence for its particular role as feminine talisman. Finally, an analysis of the ways in which coin-decorated objects could be handed down, modified, and reused over long periods of time attests to the continuity and longevity of the tradition.
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