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Curious about how coins were made from their inception in 7th-century BCE Lydia until the birth of mechanized coinage at Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory in 18th-century Birmingham, Britain? Visit the Harvard Art Museums Materials Lab on Thursday, April 27, 10-12. Meet Master Moneyer April Franklin and her expert assistants and try your hand at minting silver tetradrachms of King Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 BCE) and gold solidi Byzantine Emperor Anastasios (r. 491-518). This drop-in coin activity, part of the HAA 73: MONEY MATTERS lecture course (Spring 2023), weaves the minting technology and process into the story of money. The Harvard Art Museums Materials Lab is a space designed to encourage the investigation of materials and techniques used in works of art.
April Franklin is a professional blacksmith specializing in architectural and interior metal design, jewelry, fabrication, and installation. With over 25 years of experience, she has taught at the Penland School of Crafts in N.C., the Steel Yard, in R.I., and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts in Boston, MA, where she manages the Fabrication Studio. Her work has been exhibited at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft and the Metal Museum in Memphis, TN, and her commissions appear in private collections across the country.
With the support of the Provostial Fund for the Arts and Humanities and the Harvard Art Museums Materials Lab
