Hi Jamey, thanks for responding.

Luckily I was warned off buying the necklace by none other than
Karlis Karklins himself. He cited the relative newness of the beads also.

This near miss serves as a reminder never to invest outside
my area of expertise, if I had an area of expertise.

Mary

Btw, this is the story that went with the necklace; when asked the
seller could back none of it up.

"Unearthed in 1920 during the excavation of the basement area of an 18th century stone home, the extremely rare and wonderful necklace dates from the earliest Colonial times of the mid 17th century. It resided from hundreds of years within a broken earthenware bowl and painstakingly restrung from what appear to be a tightly woven vegetable cording of which few remnants remained. This absolutely stellar piece was restrung in the 1920's and was on display in a Massachusetts museum until it closed in the 1950's. The amazing faceted cobalt blue glass beads are concurrent with the dating of the early to mid 1600's and feature English coins predominately from the reign of Charles the 1st. Although some coins are from Elizabeth the 1st and Charles the II's reign. Also present are dozens of early silver punched "cob" pierced coin beads. The coins and cobs tested as sterling silver or higher. With the original coin ring attachments made of both iron and copper. The double strand reconstruction was based on the original remaining strung beads as was the bottom three strand tassels. The beads are the very earliest form of bugle faceted clear cobalt glass trade beads found in the colonies and date to the earliest examples traded at such sites as Fort Stanwix which has provided age chronology based on beads found in stratigraphic analysis. The faceted bugle beads both tubular and tear drop in shape measure from over 1" to 1/3". Also present are 1/8" to 1/4" examples of more rounded early faceted cobalt beads. The coins are absolutely amazing when you consider that a few of them date to the early 1600's. The sixteen coins strung on this piece represent the earliest form of currency in the colonies. Also present are early silver two holed buttons and dozens of early punched "cob" silver beads fashioned from cut pieces of early coins. The necklace is intact and displays well and is a truly unique and magnificent example of early jewelry worn by the colonists in Jamestown and nearby hamlets. This is a chance to own a unique and remarkable piece of American history. Coins measures from over 1" to 1/2" in size. The necklace length in total is 19". 28" in total neck circumference. Weight is 100.2 grams."