Bronze Coin of Constantine I, Uncertain Mint 335 - 337

Curator: There’s a quiet weight to this small bronze coin, isn't there? It feels incredibly old and worn. Editor: It is. This is a bronze coin of Constantine I from an uncertain mint, part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. It’s small, less than a gram. Curator: Small, but significant. I think about the hands it passed through, the transactions it facilitated, the power it represented. Did Constantine ever hold this exact coin? It invites questions about currency and empire, about value then and now. Who benefitted and who was exploited by this form of exchange? Editor: Absolutely. These coins were tools of imperial propaganda. Examining the iconography, the portrait of Constantine, and the symbols on the reverse reveals the strategies employed to legitimize his rule and disseminate his image across the Roman world. Curator: Yes, what was represented on the coin and to whom matters, but also who was excluded in that representation. This coin tells a story of centralized power, the making and maintenance of imperial identity. Editor: It’s a tangible connection to a distant past, an object lesson in power dynamics, then and perhaps still today. Curator: Indeed. A humble object, yet heavy with layers of meaning.