Stater of Alexander the Great, Babylon c. 311

Editor: Here we have a Stater of Alexander the Great, dating from his time in Babylon, on view here at the Harvard Art Museums. Curator: It's a small thing, isn't it? I can almost feel the weight of empires resting on those few grams of gold. It's lovely, the colour of old sunlight. Editor: The minting of coins like this played a vital role. Gold, sourced and processed through arduous labor, became a tool for funding Alexander's military campaigns. Curator: Yes, but it's more than money, right? This coin is like a little myth in metal. The winged figure, perhaps Nike, feels almost...tender. Editor: Tender, and yet rigorously standardized. Each coin a product of precisely calibrated dies and a testament to centralized control. Curator: Maybe, but I prefer to imagine the hands that held it, the hopes and dreams it represented, the stories it could tell. Editor: Indeed. It's a potent reminder of how deeply intertwined economics, politics, and art were in the ancient world.