This lost wax cast pendant dripping with freshwater pearls was modeled after a reproduction coin featuring Cleopatra VII, bearing the following inscription:

Queen of Egypt, lover of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, Cleopatra has become legendary for her beauty and romance.

Yet, if we accept the evidence of her coinage, she was certainly of ordinary appearance. To those who know only the Cleopatra of the screen, her strong, severe features as depicted on her coinage come as a shock.

But then, according to historians of her day, her attractiveness lay in her irresistible charm. In the words of Shakespeare, 'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.' This coin was issued shortly before Cleopatra ended her life by placing an asp to her breast after Antony committed suicide following defeat by Octavian in the battle of Actium.

Although the myth of Cleopatra’s suicide by snakebite endures, it is more likely she died of poison

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