Genuine Roman Bronze Coin Pendant depicting God Janus

• Handmade 100% Made in Italy • Genuine Roman Bronze Coin 3rd cent. BC • Bezel material: Sterling Silver 925
$1,124.00

In this 925 silver pendant is set an authentic Roman coin (asse) which depicts two-faced Janus. On the reverse side of the coin, we can see a ship's bow facing right with "ROMA" written underneath. In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces since he looks to the future and the past. It is conventionally thought that the month of January is named for Janus, but according to ancient Roman farmers' almanacs, Juno was the tutelary deity of the month. Janus presided over the beginning and end of the conflict, and hence war and peace. The gates of a building in Rome named after him (not a temple, as it is often called, but an open enclosure with gates at each end) were opened in time of war and closed to mark the arrival of peace (which did not happen very often). As a god of transitions, he had functions about birth and to journeys and exchange, and in his association with Portunus, a similar harbor and gateway god, he was concerned with traveling, trading, and shipping. All of our jewels are certified by a certificate of authenticity attesting their Greek or Roman origin!