Leopold I overwint de Fransen bij Luzara 1702

This silver coin commemorating Leopold I’s victory over the French at Luzara was made by Martin Schmeltzing. Coins are fascinating objects, aren’t they? They occupy a space between art, design and industry. Minting is an intrinsically industrial process; even a unique design like this one would have been serially produced. The very concept of currency depends on reliable mechanical reproduction, and the relative worth that’s assigned to them. Consider the value of the silver itself. Sourced from mines and traded globally, it was brought into service by the artist’s skill to memorialize a military victory. A painstaking craft, and one that has been with us since antiquity. The resulting object is a complex interplay between material, labor, politics, and consumption – a potent reminder of the social dynamics that are embedded even in the smallest of things.