Coin of Mithradates VI, Amisos (Pontos) c. 2th century

Curator: This is a coin of Mithradates VI Eupator, from Amisos, in Pontos. Even now, after centuries, it holds a strange allure. Editor: It's wonderfully rough, isn't it? Like something unearthed from a dream. I feel a strange, almost burdened weight looking at it. Curator: Its weight is quite literal at nearly 7 grams. Coins were so much more than currency; they were tools of propaganda. Mithradates was keen to show his face and name to his subjects. Editor: And the portrait… rather severe. A king projecting power. But the wear tells a different story, of pockets and transactions, and the slow erosion of authority over time. Curator: Indeed. The images also blend Greek and Persian iconography, a sign of Mithradates's cosmopolitan ambitions. Editor: That blend gives it a subtle tension, don’t you think? A coin that both asserts and questions its own identity. Makes you wonder about the hands it passed through. Curator: It is a small object with a grand narrative. Editor: Absolutely, I'll never look at pocket change the same way again.