Severus Alexander. AD 222-235. AV Aureus bezel set in ancient gold pendant (28.5 x 34.5mm, 10.25 g, 12h). Rome mint. 2nd emission, late AD 222. IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / IOVI CONSE R VATORI, Jupiter, naked except for cloak hanging behind him over both arms, standing front, head left, holding thunderbolt in right hand and vertical spear in left. RIC IV 140 (same dies as illustration); Calicó 3056; BMCRE 55 (same dies); Biaggi 1304. Some deposits, hairlines on the reverse of the coin, scrape on the reverse of the bezel. Good VF. Wearable.
Ever since their invention, coins have been used as objects of adornment as well as commerce. The practice gained particular popularity in the late Antonine and Severan eras of the Roman Empire, when gold aurei were frequently used, singly and in groups, as pendants in jewelry. The coins are frequently enclosed in elaborate gold openwork bezels, as seen here, a decorative technique known as opus interrasile.