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from the archive
"Emerald" Paste Halley's Comet Pin
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A souvenir from the 1835 appearance of Halley's Comet, a "short-period" (i.e., frequently recurring) comet whose appearances have been recorded by humans since 240 BCE. It was the British astronomer Edmund Halley who gave the comet its name in 1705, when he realized it was the same celestial entity whose passage had been noted by the ancient Greeks, Babylonians, and, most famously, the medieval English, who took its 1066 appearance as an omen of political strife. (Their king, Harold II, was murdered in battle by William the Conqueror later that year.) This comet is set with a rich "emerald" paste at the head, and a clear paste at the tail. Rendered in 14k gold. 7/8" long.

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