Coin (AE2) of Arcadius, Constantinople c. 383 - 386

Curator: So, this is an AE2 coin depicting Arcadius, hammered out of Constantinople way back when. It's quite something, isn't it? Editor: There's something so heavy about it, almost melancholic. I mean, imagine the weight of empires it represents in the palm of your hand! Curator: The patina certainly adds to that feeling, doesn't it? It obscures the detail but also, weirdly, accentuates the crisp profile. It's like time itself has been molded onto it. Editor: Absolutely. And the figure on the reverse—is that Victory? The line of her silhouette, the almost brutal simplification—it's striking! It makes me wonder about the people who would have held this coin. Curator: That's the magic, isn't it? To think this was someone's everyday currency, not just a relic in a museum case. Editor: A little bronze poem about power and time. It really does capture the imagination.