Coin of Blaundus under Septimius Severus c. 193 - 211

Curator: Here we have a coin from Blaundus under Septimius Severus, residing here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It looks like hard-won grit – a small, potent universe forged in bronze. Curator: Absolutely! The coin embodies power through material. Minted bronze, likely sourced and processed through considerable labor to project imperial authority. Editor: What stories it could tell! Just imagine it exchanging hands, witnessing history unfolding in bustling marketplaces. Curator: Indeed! Each dent and scratch is a testament to its life as a tool of economic exchange, a physical embodiment of value, produced, circulated, and consumed. Editor: I'm left pondering the human touch etched into its surface, a tangible link to those who lived and traded with it. Curator: Yes, its simplicity is incredibly moving.