Coin of Maurice Tiberius c. 601 - 602

This coin of Maurice Tiberius, now at Harvard, was likely made of metal, and was struck at some point during his reign. Think about the physical act of repeatedly striking these coins. There's a ritual, a steady beat, in that process. The images and text on this coin have degraded and worn away over time. It's like looking at a painting where the artist used very thin, transparent layers of paint. You can still see traces of the original intention, but time has blurred the edges, softened the contrasts. See the way the light catches the raised areas, the tiny bumps and ridges? These details show the artistry involved in producing something designed to be replicated thousands of times. This coin reminds me of some of Cy Twombly's work - particularly his scrawled text and numbers, the way he lets chance and decay play a part in the final image. Both artists seem to be interested in the beauty of imperfection.