Antoninianus of Probus, Antioch 277 - 282

Editor: So, this is an Antoninianus of Probus, a Roman coin. Seeing it makes me think about how power is literally imprinted onto objects. What story do you think it whispers? Curator: It whispers of empire, doesn't it? I see the ghost of a ruler, and two figures locked in some sort of... transaction? Imagine the hands this coin passed through, each one a tiny story etched onto its surface. What do you think the figures might be doing? Editor: Maybe it's about trade or a treaty? It's hard to tell with the wear. Curator: Exactly! The wear is part of the story. It's survival, experience. It makes you wonder if power shifts with each transaction? Editor: That's a cool way to look at it. So much history pressed onto one little disc. Curator: Indeed! And it asks us to consider what fragments of ourselves we leave behind.