In Latin America, the word plata -silver- is used many times instead of dinero-money-, perhaps because of the coins the Spanish brought and exchanged with the peoples of the continent. The natives did not value money as currency, but as the metal of which it was made.

In the territories of present-day Chile, some of these coins were used by Mapuchecommunities to make jewelry. They redefined, or rather re-established the original meaning of the use of silver as ornament.

It is emblematic that the Chilean 100 pesos coin depicts the face of a Mapuchewoman wearing a “trarilonko”, a headband made of coins that have returned to being silver.

“Plata y Cobre” is inspired by the same idea of re-signification by creating two pins that complement each other. Starting with a 5 cent coin, copper particles extracted from its plating reassemble to form uncanny crystalline structures in Brooche “Cobre”. The remaining steel core of the coin, left free to react with the atmosphere, is flooded with colour, regaining its mineral brilliance in Brooche “Plata”./