Copper Tetarteron of John III Vatatzes, Magnesia ad Meandron c. 1221 - 1254

Curator: Here we have a copper tetarteron created under John III Vatatzes, during his reign in Magnesia ad Meandron. The coin weighs just 2.82 grams. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by how humble it feels. Not the grand pronouncements of power I might expect, but almost…personal? Curator: Well, consider its function: currency. These weren’t sculpted monuments; they were tools of exchange, of production and consumption. Copper, a readily available material, signals a shift in the Byzantine economy. Editor: It’s aged, worn smooth in places. Makes you wonder whose hands it passed through, what stories it could tell if coins could talk. Curator: Its creation reflects the economic conditions and the material realities of the time. It is also, in a sense, a piece of propaganda, meant to circulate the image of the Emperor, both literally and figuratively. Editor: It's funny to think about the practicalities of power and representation embodied in something so small and handled so casually. Almost contradictory, really. Curator: Precisely. It highlights the inherent tensions between the symbolic and the material, the ruler and the ruled. Editor: It certainly offers a unique lens through which to view an empire—a tangible piece of its everyday existence.