Anonymous Follis c. 1030 - 1042

Curator: The Anonymous Follis, undated and unsigned, really invites us to consider the hands that made and used it. It’s at the Harvard Art Museums, by the way. Editor: It looks worn and feels weighty somehow. The copper has this beautiful, almost melancholic patina. I wonder what stories it could tell? Curator: Precisely! Imagine the labor involved—the mining, smelting, striking. And it was a tool of empire, facilitating trade and projecting power. Editor: The simple image on one side, almost childlike in its rendering, also speaks to something deeply human, a need for symbol. Curator: Absolutely. It’s a humble object, but full of profound connections. Editor: I'll not look at loose change in quite the same way again.