Searching for Iron Age Secrets

It was in a dusty corner of the New York Museum of Natural History. It had been catalogued incorrectly. The label next to it read "Ancient Greek Coin."

Dr. Adelaide Moore walked past countless displays, each one bearing the name of some long-dead explorer or scientist, each one staring back at her with his smooth, dead face. She felt as though they were judging her, as if they knew she was only there because her father was rich and influential and had pulled strings to get her hired at the museum. She felt as if they knew she wasn't really a scientist, but just a beautiful young woman who paraded about in designer dresses and high heels, smiling prettily for all the cameras when the museum threw receptions to impress their big donors.

But Dr. Adelaide Moore was not just any beautiful young woman, either. For years now, she'd been working secretly on a project that could change the world - a project that made her describe herself as a "scientist" with pride. She had worked hard to develop a new type of fuel that could be used for more than just powering cars and airplanes; her research suggested this new fuel could be used in weapons of war. A new world energy crisis would mean new opportunities for scientists like her - but also new dangers surrounding the politics of oil and natural gas reserves around the globe. She had always dreamed of being part of something important and world-changing, yet here she was, stuck in this dusty corner of this dusty museum with nothing but an ancient coin on display labeled "Ancient Greek Coin".

She frowned at it; she could tell that it was older than it looked by looking at the condition of its surface. It was blackened with age, perhaps from being buried in soil for centuries before some collector or another discovered it and placed it on display here in this museum. But what drew her attention to it were two letters etched into its surface: "XI". She'd seen those letters before somewhere... But where? She glanced at the other coins next to it: there were no other coins like this one on display. It stood out because it was different from all the others - and for that reason alone she wanted to know more about it.

"Excuse me," she said finally to the curator standing behind the counter nearby. He looked up from his work; he didn't appear very happy to see her, but he smiled anyway. He probably resented having to spend time dealing with some wealthy donor's pampered offspring who'd wandered off into a part of the museum they weren't supposed to be in while their parents toured the exhibits downstairs. "Can you tell me anything about this coin?" she asked him, pointing at the coin behind the glass case separating them.

"Oh yes!" he said brightly - perhaps too brightly for someone speaking to someone like her - and walked over eagerly to try and make conversation with her. "It's an ancient Greek coin from around 200 BC! Nice example too; quite well preserved!" he said enthusiastically as he gazed down upon it through the glass case between them. Adelaide's eyes narrowed suspiciously: what did he mean by that? How could he possibly know how well preserved this particular coin was? Wasn't there a standard procedure for cleaning artifacts like these when they were first discovered?

"So... What does 'XI' mean?" she asked him curiously after a moment's silence. The curator turned his head sharply towards her so quickly that she wondered if he might hurt himself if he shook his head too violently again any time soon; clearly he hadn't expected anyone else besides himself to be interested in such a boring topic today. He cleared his throat awkwardly before answering her question: "Well... That is Roman numerals indicating eleven." He stopped abruptly, as though waiting for some response from Adelaide... But she had none to give him beyond giving him an even more puzzled look than before; why would someone use Roman numerals instead of standard numbers?

And why would Roman numerals be written on an Ancient Greek coin? And why would someone write any kind of writing on such an old coin if not for personal communication? Were there collectors out there buying coins specifically for their inscriptions? If so, how much would such an inscribed coin fetch on Ebay or Amazon?

The curator must have guessed what she was thinking because he said hastily: "They are usually abbreviations indicating ownership! Like 'XI' meaning 'eleven', or 'II' meaning 'two'." His tone made it clear that he thought Adelaide should have known all this already based on having grown up in America - but obviously not everyone wrote Roman numerals today! And even those who did mostly still wrote regular numbers instead! Adelaide wasn't sure whether this man was being condescending or merely clueless... Either way, she didn't like him very much right now!