Piedfort van een dukaton uit Brabant van Philips IV, 1648 1648

This silver piedfort, or double-weight coin, of a ducaton from Brabant was created in 1648 under the rule of Philips IV. What stories can a coin tell? Consider the function of currency: to quantify worth, to standardize value. But value for whom? This coin naturalizes a hierarchy. The portrait of King Philip IV dominates. Below him, a defaced, mask-like face struggles to support the King’s armor. This alludes to the economic base and subjugated peoples upon which colonial power rests. The text encircling the image declares Philip IV as King of the Spains and the Indies by the grace of God. Look closely and you will see the ways the coin makes visible the intertwined threads of political power, religious justification, and colonial exploitation. Currency makes abstract the human cost of empire. It is a potent reminder of the narratives that money silently carries.