A coin is tucked inside a letter on my bookshelf. It’s no ordinary coin, although it measures 1.5 cm long like a common American penny and weighs about the same as well.
The surface is brown and faded with chipped, bumpy edges. No evidence remains of its former bronze brilliance. A darker hue of brown lines its edge like it has been charred. The coin appears delicate from hundreds of years of existence, as though you could scrape away the design with one easy swipe of a nail file. Its surface is dull, and will never be shiny again because its thin, bronze top coat has been worn away with time. On one side lies the goddess Pax, raised out of the coin to emphasize her importance, with “Perfect Peace” inscribed around her in Latin. Although damaged with time, her figure is still visible, along with a large staff held in her hand. The other side is a bumpy blur, although it once held a glorious, shiny depiction of Constantine I. This side doesn’t even look like a coin; if it was lying in the ground, it could easily be mistaken for a flat, bumpy pebble.
It has been sitting in various places in my room since March 10th, 2005. It’s forgotten most of the time. However, this coin is rich in history. It lived before the Twin Towers were attacked. It survived before the Great Depression. It even lived before the Norman Invasion of England in 1066. “How did it end up in your room?” you may wonder.
Here is its story.
Let’s zoom back almost two thousand years to the Roman Empire. During the rule of Constantine the Great, this small bronze coin was made in the 18th year of his rule, around 324 A.D. Constantine was the first emperor to become a Christian (he thought that God would help him conquer more people) and therefore changed the history of all of Europe for the next thousand years. This coin was around for the beginning of a new kind of world as it passed from hand to hand over the years. It was called a “follis,” which is like our modern day penny, so it most likely passed through the hands of commoners as they went about their days selling fish in the marketplace, buying bread, paying back loans, and losing money in bets.
At some point, it fell into the ground— possibly slipping unnoticed through someone’s fingers. It lay there, squished into the soil, for much longer than it probably expected to, undiscovered for centuries. Countless people walked over it. The dark ages came and went. Kings and Queens rode by and peasants trudged over it. Genghis Khan and the Mongols stormed over it as they invaded. Vikings passed by in their boats. All were unaware of the small piece of history that was waiting to be discovered.
It was only recently that someone happened to look down at the right spot and pick it up. It was found by an archaeologist who was exploring the world from one end to the other.
This archaeologist was Mr. Bill Reilly, who became a middle school teacher several years later. He inspired minds like no one else could and created a passion for learning. His students had the craziest assignments (building life-sized catapults, making episodes of “The Daily Show”, turning school hallways into a museum for the community to visit)— and even those kids who were frequently suspended or hated going to school couldn’t help but look forward to his class all day. This small “follis” snagged a spot in his ancient coin collection, which students year after year observed and passed around while learning about ancient Rome.
I loved Mr. Reilly. What an interesting man he was! And he had fabulous stories from all over the world to share. I spent many hours after school with the coin in my palm, imagining epic battles, creamy togas, and vast empires. For my 12th birthday, Mr. Reilly gave me the coin. I loved it to pieces. It sat for a while in a white tin with other coins I had been collecting, until one day I realized that the tin just wasn’t its home. It wasn’t supposed to be with other coins. It was too special. So it sits inside the letter that Mr. Reilly gave me on my 12th birthday and it’s been there ever since- relocating to different spots in my room whenever I clean.
I think what I liked most about having this coin in my possession was that it was a secret. I had my own little piece of ancient Rome and nobody knew that except me (and Mr. Reilly).
My life is kind of like this penny. Although I won’t be around for as long, history is being created around me and I am experiencing “time.” I’m going to experience wonderful and horrible events! One day, what is happening right now will be a story in a young child’s textbook. We’ll be referred to as “Ancient New Yorkers!” I keep this penny around as a reminder that all time is precious— and that history is still being written each and every day.
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
Eirinn, I loved reading your post! This is a very interesting object with not only rich history, but an important meaning to you. I love that your object has been around for nearly 2,000 years- it must be so incredible to hold that in your hand and know that it has experience so much and survived so long. I think one of the most fascinating things about this object is that it is (or was) a form of currency, which means it had most likely passed through the hands of many, many individuals and had some sort of value to each and every one of them. The amount of history that has been packed into 1.5 centimeters of metal is absolutely remarkable.
Thanks Maggie! I agree- it’s really interesting to think about the Ancient Romans going through their daily lives using this coin. I would love to know what kinds of people held this coin. Since it is a penny, I visualized the “commoners” holding this coin and passing it around. It really is amazing that something so small could survive so long. I know much larger items of the past have eroded away or been destroyed. I think it’s incredible that the detail on this coin, although faded and damaged, can still be seen. I don’t think pennies today would last that long- maybe because of the way they are made now.
THIS IS SO AWESOME! It totally kicks my coin posts’s butt! But it also makes me think, because your coin has already survived so much… what will my coin live to see? I really liked the detail you gave describing who and what would have lived alongside this coin. It’s so difficult when you see ancient objects to grasp the kinds of people who handled it, the strange shift of time to which it has been witness. What would that coin say if it could talk? One small object captures a vast amount of time, one that took humans a long time to document, explore, and learn about in detail. I think I’m somewhat flabbergasted by all that it could tell us if it could just talk to us. This is really an amazing object, I’m so glad you shared with us!
Thanks for your post Steph! I agree – it’s so interesting to think about what this coin has “witnessed” which is why I included historical events that happened during its “lifespan”. Even though this coin isn’t alive, there’s something “knowledgeable” about it- I can’t really explain what I mean, but I’m sure you understand!!
I really liked reading your post! I love how you explained the history of your coin in vivid detail going back in time up until the present where it is in your possession. The history and time this coin endured felt so real to me. It is so true what you said about time! Time is so relative and we all feel immortal and at the center of everything sometimes, but it is so interesting to understand that we are experiencing time each day, we are living a moment of future history, a blip in the universe of life, happiness, sadness, war, peace, progress, ect.
Thank you Ally! It’s so easy to forget that we are experiencing so many wonderful (and horrific) events that will make it into a history textbook in the future. I wonder what kinds of objects from our world today will still survive in 2000 years? I think it’s impossible to tell. The Ancient Romans probably thought that some of their greatest monuments would survive and that their pennies would be wiped out.
AWWW this is so COOOLLL!! I love this post! I love your description, the history of the coin, and then how it came to your hands 🙂 It’s really amazing how you’ve kept onto it throughout the years. Do you still keep in touch with Mr. Reilly? That must have been the best birthday ever! Who knew a mere coin could be so special…Mann…..this is really cool. you should make a special glass case for it haha.
Thank you Sue! Yes, I do still keep in touch with Mr. Reilly- I go back every year and visit and we email each other as well. He is the greatest teacher I have ever met. I didn’t place a lot of emphasis on mine and Mr. Reilly’s relationship in my post but the coin is definitely extra-special because it was a gift from him. The coin reminds me of him and all that he has done for the people around him (he has built schools in Belize, taught teachers in Azerbaijan, fund-raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for organizations to better our world) and it reminds me of my goals to help other people as well. I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of this coin in my lifetime. I’m not sure where it will end up after my death– but I’m sure this coin will find its place in the world to continue surviving and inspiring.
I enjoyed your post very much. I have always wanted a coin from this era, but never bought one. How much more special that yours was a gift from someone so important to you. I have a US half-dollar collection that was my grandfather’s, of course very recent in history. It is special to me because I remember my parents purchasing one coin at a time to give him at Christmas when I was little. I’m enjoying the posts from several of you who had very special and significant relationships which you cherish, some family some not. I think a big factor in your success and achievement today is due to that good fortune that not all young people have.
Thank you Sandy! That’s awesome that you have a US half-dollar collection – I’ve always wanted to start collecting American coins but I’ve never gotten around to doing it! I also like that it became a tradition each year, there is something so nice about that. It can also show how long the collection has been going on for, so that’s pretty cool as well!
I agree with you about being lucky to have had someone like Mr. Reilly. Everyone needs someone who believes in them.