As of Gordian III 

Curator: Here we have a coin, "As of Gordian III," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. It's quite small, only about 10 grams. Editor: It feels heavy, doesn't it? Like history's weight in my palm, even just looking at the image. So worn and weathered, but still speaking. Curator: Well, consider the bronze material and the methods used to produce such coins. The materiality speaks to accessibility, and the processes of mass production used to disseminate the image. Editor: Right, and it’s not just an image—it's currency, power, a little story in everyone's pocket. I wonder how many hands this passed through, whose lives it touched. Curator: Absolutely, the coin acts as a material record of a complex political and economic system that supported an empire. Editor: I keep coming back to the patina, that green. It makes me think of time, decay, but also resilience. Still here, still being seen. Curator: And still informing our view of production and consumption across time. Editor: Exactly! Even in fragments, art whispers volumes.