Money and Medals
How societies have represented value, power, and identity through currency. Coins, banknotes, medals, and tokens from antiquity to the present day.
Power and value, small enough to fit in a fist.
coin is propaganda you can spend. From the moment states began stamping metal with the faces of rulers and the symbols of gods, money carried a message into every hand in the realm: who was in charge, what was sacred, what a life was worth.
Follow the argument across the case: an emperor's profile minted to reach the frontier, a medal struck to fix a victory in memory, a banknote promising a value it cannot itself contain. The smallest objects in the museum, making some of its largest claims.
