1920 Rare Seneca Perforated Coin Silver Pin Collection

These six, small pins represent one of the last examples of a silver working tradition that pre-dates the Southwestern Navajo silver work by more than 100 years! Among the earliest Native practitioners of metal craft for jewelry were the Northeastern tribes, primarily the Iroquois. Through their trade and conflict with the French, they learned the art of cutting and perforating metal -- silver, often from coins, into tooled brooches and other decoration. These fine, rare examples were originally collected on a trip through the Allegheny portion of the Seneca Reservation in Western New York in 1920. These wonderful, Seneca pins feature the dagger style of brooch pin that requires a pinch of cloth to set. It is a very old style that can be traced back to the earliest styles of silversmithing in Europe, the UK and Ireland. Now only practiced by a few remaining Seneca silversmiths in the Midwest, the style has all but died out. The first image shows the face tooling, the second image shows the backs. Scroll down for the full-size images.

Each carries a small, stamped S for silver, but they test at less than .80 silver content -- typical for coin. They were acquired from a New York estate and have been in our private collection for more than 12 years now. The sales provenance has been lost, or they would bring a much higher price. There is no maker's signature marking, and we assume they were made by several different artists, as families often used the same designs for all their work. The largest measures 1 9/16" wide, or 39mm; the smallest, just 13/16" wide, or 20mm. These will be sold as a complete set only.

If you need a special gift for a serious collector of Northeastern Native handmade items -- this is the one!

We've been working to keep our customers coming back since 1985 -- We ship fast, always insure packages, offer combined shipping discounts and accept returns. We hope you'll be one of our many regulars. Anything you'd like, you don't see, let us know and please be sure to leave us feedback!