Coin of Constans II c. 654 - 659

Curator: Isn’t it funny to think this tiny golden disc, a Coin of Constans II, once held so much power? Editor: It’s striking! And how worn and softened the details have become—like a memory rubbed smooth by time. Curator: Exactly. Produced during the reign of Constans II, these coins were both currency and propaganda. The iconography promoted his authority and divine right. Editor: I find the faces fascinating. Those stylized portraits of Constans and his son, Constantine IV, look so severe. Did they really see themselves that way? It’s tempting to humanize them. Curator: Well, imagery on coinage has always been about projecting an image. This tells us much about their ambitions and the public image they wished to cultivate. Editor: This little coin, though. It whispers of an emperor’s ego, but also of human touch, of economies, and of things lost, found, and valued over centuries. Curator: It’s a tangible link to the past, a reminder that even empires are built on such small, circulated things.