Coin of Marathos with Head of Berenike II of Egypt c. 221

Curator: We're looking at a coin from Marathos, it features the head of Berenike II of Egypt. Editor: The wear is striking, isn't it? You can see the ghost of an image worn by countless transactions and sweaty palms. Curator: Coins served not just as currency but as propaganda. Berenike's image here projects power and legitimacy across her kingdom. Editor: Consider the labor involved in minting these coins. The extraction of metal, the creation of dies, the physical striking—a whole economy embedded in this small object. Curator: Exactly, and who controlled that economy? The image of Berenike on the coin suggests royal authority over both the production and the distribution of wealth. Editor: The fact that this object survived also speaks to something about value, doesn't it? Its use in trade, its potential to be remelted, the stories it carried. Curator: Indeed, it's a silent witness to shifts in political power and the daily life of people in ancient Egypt. Editor: A potent little thing! I'm struck by the way it connects material processes to complex power dynamics.