Coin of Alexandria under Antoninus Pius c. 158 - 159

Curator: Let’s examine this "Coin of Alexandria under Antoninus Pius," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. It weighs about 12.7 grams. Editor: It feels haunted, doesn’t it? Like holding a tiny, tarnished mirror reflecting the echoes of an empire. Curator: Indeed. The formal qualities of the coin—the degraded relief, the patinated surface—speak to its age and circulation as a form of symbolic currency. Editor: I wonder what stories it could tell, if coins could talk. The people who held it, the markets it traveled to, the decisions influenced by its worth. It's a tangible link to the past. Curator: Precisely, a material artifact prompting us to analyze the iconography, the power structures, and the economic systems of the time. The coin's value lies in its historical context. Editor: And also in its imperfections. The wear and tear, the subtle erosion, adds to its allure, whispering of time's relentless passage. I am drawn to it, and hope you are too.