Coin of the Chalkidian League c. 432

Curator: This is a silver coin of the Chalkidian League, a federation of cities in ancient Greece, now part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. It weighs in at 14.45 grams. Editor: There's something weighty about this coin. I mean that literally, of course, given its mass, but also figuratively. The worn surface speaks to centuries of circulation and exchange. Curator: Absolutely. The female head, possibly a nymph or local deity, on one side speaks to the identity of the region, while the lyre on the other evokes Apollo, music, and cultural sophistication. The very act of minting coins reflects their economic and political agency. Editor: Indeed. Consider the labor involved in its creation: mining the silver, die-cutting, striking each individual coin. Each step shaped by the social context of that time. Curator: And the distribution of these coins helped facilitate trade and cultural exchange, solidifying Chalkidian power across the Mediterranean. It's a testament to the material culture of its time and the league’s own self-fashioning. Editor: It's a fascinating intersection of material production and symbolic value. It makes you think about what objects will last, and what they will say about us. Curator: Yes, it offers a lens into the past.