Coin of Tiberius II c. 578

Curator: The artifact we're looking at is a coin minted during the reign of Tiberius II. Editor: It looks so fragile, like a dried leaf, yet you know it was once so important. Curator: Absolutely. The coin, now at the Harvard Art Museums, would have been a common object, a symbol of imperial power circulating amongst the people. Editor: And what symbols! The emperor's face on one side is instantly recognizable, but the abstract symbol on the other side... that is what draws me in. What's the symbolism there? Curator: Indeed. The coin has an intrinsic value of course, but it also represents the economic and political systems that were in place at the time it was created. Editor: To think how much history it has seen, how many hands it might have passed through. Each of those transactions, a tiny act of faith in the system it represented. Curator: And it's a system that has long since vanished. Editor: Yet here we are, still contemplating its weight. A tangible link.