Anonymous Follis c. 970 - 976

Editor: This is an Anonymous Follis, from an unknown date, here at Harvard Art Museums. It’s a rather small, worn coin, but you can make out figures pressed into both sides. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see the power of production and consumption at play. The coin's material – likely bronze – speaks to the resources extracted and processed to create it. Consider the labor involved in its creation, from mining to minting. How does its presence reflect the Byzantine economy and its reliance on coinage? Editor: So the value isn’t just symbolic, but also tied to the whole process of making it? Curator: Exactly. The coin reminds us that even seemingly simple objects are laden with social and economic meaning, revealing the relationship between labor, materials, and daily life. Editor: That gives me a lot to think about regarding value.