The Histiaia earrings are a remarkable showcase of ancient Greek coins from the city of Histiaia on the island of Euboia. These coins, minted in the third century BC, depict the nymph Histiaia and are set in frosted yellow gold with ear-clips that have fold-down posts for ease of wearing.
On the front side of the coins, Histiaia is depicted looking to the right, adorned with a sphendone (head scarf), a vine wreath, earrings, and a necklace. On the reverse side, she is seated on the stern of a galley with billowing sails. Histiaia was believed to inhabit a spring in the city of Histiaia.
We managed to obtain two coins minted at the same time, however, one was struck off-centre (VF). To restore the face of Histiaia to her full beauty, a millennia-old technique of lost wax was used to recreate the missing part of her profile. A wax-imprint was made from the other finely minted coin, and new silver was poured to complete the missing part of her profile. The restored silver was carefully nestled against the original, unaltered coin, intentionally showing the difference between the freshly poured silver and the ancient silver. This sensitive restoration honours the past, while bringing a new dimension to these truly unique earrings.
