These woven gold chains crossed over the shoulders and under the breasts and joined at the back. Given its diminutive size and close fit, the ornament likely was worn by a slender young woman—and is much smaller than the photograph might suggest. At the front is a settings for nine gems, the centerpiece a polished amethyst surrounded by four garnets, with alternating fittings for four missing stones, possibly pearls (given their shape). At the back, the chain is joined by a clasp to an elaborately decorated gold mount holding a Roman solidus, a nearly solid gold coin (hence the name) depicting the emperor Gratian—whose rule ended in AD 383, when the usurper Magnus Maximus proclaimed himself emperor of Britannia and the West.
