Asper of Manuel I of Trebizond c. 13th century

Curator: Look, it's so small! It feels intimate, almost like holding a secret. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is an "Asper," a coin minted under Manuel I of Trebizond. Its raw materiality is striking, the wear whispering of countless transactions, the very stuff of empire and trade. Curator: Absolutely. I feel the ghosts of markets, the hopes and anxieties wrapped up in this tiny, silver disc. Editor: Precisely! The coin's worth transcends the image. It embodies the very systems that drove its creation. Curator: So, a portal to a whole world of making, trading, and believing, all compressed into a humble coin. Editor: Exactly! An insight into empire through its material base. Curator: I'm seeing how the smallest object holds a story far bigger than itself. Editor: A material record and testament to the structures that shaped it, and that it helped shape.