Coin of the Epeirote Republic c. 238

Editor: This is a coin from the Epeirote Republic, housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. It looks so small and corroded, but there’s something dignified in the composition. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: Note how the patination, the surface alteration from age, paradoxically obscures and enhances the relief. Does the corrosion amplify the original design or detract? Editor: I can see both sides. It obscures detail, but also gives it an antique aura. Curator: Precisely. The degradation product, copper carbonate, becomes integral to the object's aesthetic, an unintended collaboration across centuries. Editor: So, decay becomes part of the form. Fascinating! Curator: Indeed. A reminder that even in ruins, structure persists.