The coin that was not made new
Text: an original contemporary museum-conservation-essay-style practice extract.
On the preparation table, the coin resembled a grey button. The objects already arranged in the museum cases caught the light neatly; this one seemed to swallow it. I asked the conservator whether it had been missed from the cleaning list.
She turned the coin over without rubbing its surface. Loose soil had been removed, she explained, but the museum would not polish it. Beside the coin lay a shining replica. On that version, the date and the ring of lettering could be read immediately. On the original, both were interrupted by darkness and wear. At first, the replica looked more convincing to me. It resembled what I thought an old coin ought to look like once a museum had taken responsibility for it.
The conservator pointed to a smooth section near the edge. Countless hands had held the coin there. Making the whole surface equally bright would not reveal its history; it would remove some of the evidence that the object had passed through ordinary lives. Yet the replica had a purpose too. Without it, many visitors would struggle to understand the pattern beneath the worn surface.
When the display opened, a child inspected both versions and declared the replica the proper coin. Her grandfather remained in front of the original. He followed the uneven edge with his eyes and wondered aloud how many pockets it had travelled in. Neither response seemed foolish. The replica made the design available; the original made its survival visible.
The museum had not simply left the coin alone. Someone had cleaned it cautiously, produced a copy, adjusted the lighting and written a label explaining the decision. Refusing to make the object look new had required extra work. I still found the replica easier to admire. But the dull coin no longer looked unfinished. Its difficult surface had become part of what the display was asking us to notice.
In this extract, the writer tries to show that care is sometimes demonstrated by refusing to make an old object look new.
Evaluate how successfully this is achieved. Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.
834 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 2.3 Content: non-fiction study and transactional text types, covering 2.3.9 Write an article, 2.3.10 Write a letter, 2.3.11 Write a review, 2.3.12 Write a text for a speech, and 2.3.13 Write a section for a guide, textbook, leaflet or booklet. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.