Graven Images

Abstract

Issues of status and class appeared with new twists when gold took the form of ancient coins and modern medals. The discovery of buried gold often pitted working-class finders, whose rational response was to melt their finds down for the bullion content, against educated collectors, who were appalled by such disregard for history and aesthetics. Gold medals, for their part, measured merit among the closed ranks of aristocratic politicians, sportsmen, students, and men of science, often in explicit contrast to cash awards doled out to people of less status or means. These graven images conjured nonmonetary (and, consequently, controversial) value by enabling Britons to discover their forebears, broadcast their erudition, or locate themselves in posterity.