Coin of Kassandreia under Caracalla c. 3th century

Curator: This is a coin of Kassandreia under Caracalla, currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. It weighs only 3.82 grams. Editor: What strikes me is its weathered look. It feels ancient, like holding time itself. Curator: Indeed. Caracalla, though not the artist in the modern sense, authorized its creation. These coins served both practical and propagandistic purposes. Editor: Propaganda, even on something so small! I wonder what messages it carried. Curator: The imagery, likely Caracalla's portrait, aimed to project power and legitimacy across the empire. Each detail was carefully considered. Editor: It’s amazing to consider how something so seemingly insignificant once held so much value and conveyed so much meaning. A tiny window into a vanished world. Curator: Precisely. It's a tangible link to a distant past. Editor: I’ll never look at a coin the same way again.