Coin of Maurice Tiberius c. 597 - 598

This bronze coin of Maurice Tiberius was likely made as a form of currency, though you could also consider it a kind of portraiture. Just look at how worn this coin is! It's clear that the marks, lines and textures are not just the result of some deliberate and singular action on the part of the artist, but the record of something far more protracted and indeterminate: a process of continual change. It’s been rubbed, bumped, traded and transported, and yet the details of the portrait and the inscriptions have remained legible throughout. I find that pretty amazing! Does the face of Tiberius stare out with regal certainty? Is the "M" on the opposite side meant to stand for money, or Maurice? It's up to us to decide! Isn’t it interesting that something as apparently fixed as a portrait can reveal the touch of so many different hands? It reminds me of those sculptures by Rodin, with all their fingerprints left visible! This coin and those sculptures show art as not just a finalized object, but an ongoing process.