Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Philip I AR Denarius. Rome, AD 244. IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / SECVRIT ORBIS, Securitas seated left, holding sceptre and leaning head on left hand. RIC 48a; C. 214. 2.96g, 22mm, 7h.
Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; the only example on CoinArchives.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 72, 16 May 2013, lot 713.
The denarii of Philip I are of very great rarity; only two have been offered at auction in the past two decades, including the present specimen. Maximinus I (235-238) was the last reigning emperor to have struck the denarius as the principal silver denomination intended for regular circulation. The reign of his successor Gordian III (238-244) saw the 'Antoninianus' or double-denarius become, virtually overnight, the mainstay of the Roman currency, due to the inflationary pressures of the early third century in part caused by ever greater military expenditure and associated successive debasements of the coinage. The denarius, though not yet relegated to the status of a mere unit of account, was now a critically endangered species.
Issued sporadically throughout the reign of Gordian III, mass production of the denarius came to an end with the fourth issue at Rome in 241-243. By the time of Philip I's accession in 244 the common use of the Antoninianus was well entrenched; Philip himself issued only three denarius types, ADVENTVS AVG (RIC 26), PIETAS AVGG (RIC 43a) and the present SECVRIT ORBIS. Of these, the first two may securely be said to represent ceremonial coins produced for the arrival of Philip at Rome in the late summer of 244, and for the elevation of his son Philip II to the rank of co-Augustus in 247. The present type is of no less rarity than the other two, and must therefore also have been produced for a special purpose. A possible occasion may be found at the beginning of Philip's reign in early 244, when he was required to negotiate peace with Shapur I of the Sasanian Empire in order to return to Rome to secure his position. A scarce emission produced at this time at Antioch records the peace with the legend PAX FVNDATA CVM PERSIS, accompanied by types including SPES FELICITATIS ORBIS. The present coin therefore, with its reverse announcing the security of the (Roman) world, would seem a fitting type for concurrent issue at Rome, where the Antiochan legend would probably have been viewed with no small measure of distaste.
Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; the only example on CoinArchives.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 72, 16 May 2013, lot 713.
The denarii of Philip I are of very great rarity; only two have been offered at auction in the past two decades, including the present specimen. Maximinus I (235-238) was the last reigning emperor to have struck the denarius as the principal silver denomination intended for regular circulation. The reign of his successor Gordian III (238-244) saw the 'Antoninianus' or double-denarius become, virtually overnight, the mainstay of the Roman currency, due to the inflationary pressures of the early third century in part caused by ever greater military expenditure and associated successive debasements of the coinage. The denarius, though not yet relegated to the status of a mere unit of account, was now a critically endangered species.
Issued sporadically throughout the reign of Gordian III, mass production of the denarius came to an end with the fourth issue at Rome in 241-243. By the time of Philip I's accession in 244 the common use of the Antoninianus was well entrenched; Philip himself issued only three denarius types, ADVENTVS AVG (RIC 26), PIETAS AVGG (RIC 43a) and the present SECVRIT ORBIS. Of these, the first two may securely be said to represent ceremonial coins produced for the arrival of Philip at Rome in the late summer of 244, and for the elevation of his son Philip II to the rank of co-Augustus in 247. The present type is of no less rarity than the other two, and must therefore also have been produced for a special purpose. A possible occasion may be found at the beginning of Philip's reign in early 244, when he was required to negotiate peace with Shapur I of the Sasanian Empire in order to return to Rome to secure his position. A scarce emission produced at this time at Antioch records the peace with the legend PAX FVNDATA CVM PERSIS, accompanied by types including SPES FELICITATIS ORBIS. The present coin therefore, with its reverse announcing the security of the (Roman) world, would seem a fitting type for concurrent issue at Rome, where the Antiochan legend would probably have been viewed with no small measure of distaste.