Coin of Corinth under Antoninus Pius 138 - 161

Editor: Here we have a Coin of Corinth under Antoninus Pius, a copper coin held at the Harvard Art Museums. It's quite weathered, but you can still see the details. What strikes me is how the material itself tells a story of time and use. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a powerful object lesson in materiality and power. Consider the labor extracted to mine the copper, the craft involved in its shaping, the economic system it represents, and how its consumption facilitated social interactions across the Roman Empire. Editor: So, you are saying it's not just about the emperor’s image, but about the entire system that produced and used the coin? Curator: Precisely. Its worth resided not only in its face value but in the network of production and exchange it enabled. The wear and tear even testifies to its circulation within the Roman economy. Editor: That's fascinating. I never thought about a coin in those terms. Curator: Seeing art as a product of material processes unveils the human labor and socio-economic structures embedded within.