Anonymous Follis c. 1050 - 1060

Curator: Here we have an Anonymous Follis at the Harvard Art Museums. Its creation involved an unknown artist, emphasizing the coin's functional role over individual authorship. Editor: It's remarkable how the degradation of this coin emphasizes its materiality; the patinated surfaces speak to time and circulation. Curator: Indeed. The iconographic program, though worn, presents a powerful visual statement. The deliberate arrangement of text and image creates a symbolic language. Editor: Consider also the labor involved in its production; the casting, the striking. Each coin represents a unit of labor, a component of economic exchange. Curator: This coin, then, is not merely currency; it is a carefully constructed symbolic object, reflecting and reinforcing power structures. Editor: I agree, and that power is made tangible through the material itself: the base metal, the weight, the feel in the hand of the worker, the merchant, the citizen. What a story it silently tells.