Coin of Caesarea Mazaca under Severus Alexander 221 - 222

Curator: It is hard to believe, but we are looking at a coin from Caesarea Mazaca during the reign of Severus Alexander. Editor: It's a deeply weathered bronze, isn't it? Feels like it's carrying centuries of whispered stories. Curator: Absolutely, it's amazing to consider the hands it passed through. This isn't just currency; it's a piece of propaganda. Editor: Propaganda relying on a very specific material, though. Copper alloy, shaped through labor, then traded. It's a physical manifestation of power, economy, and craft, intertwined. Curator: You're right. But the image of the emperor, the symbols… I wonder what ordinary people felt holding this little emblem of power. Editor: I think it's not so much about feeling, as about using. What could they buy with it? Who did they pay? That's the real story it tells. Curator: Perhaps we are both right; its beauty is that its story is not univocal. Editor: Precisely, a coin that, today, speaks to us materially and emotionally.