Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 516 18 May 2022
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Philip I. AD 244-249. Æ Sestertius (32mm, 19.52 g, 12h). Rome mint, 5th officina. 3rd emission, AD 244. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Pax standing left, holding olive branch and scepter. RIC IV 184a; Banti 26. Dark green and brown patina. Good VF. Struck on broad flan with a strong portrait.
Ex Gorny & Mosch 271 (29 May 2020), lot 961; Gorny & Mosch 269 (9 March 2020), lot 1163.
Marcus Julius Philippus was Arabian by birth, but his early life is obscure. He rose to the post of Praetorian Prefect in AD 244, during the Persian campaign of the teenaged emperor Gordian III, and became emperor himself after Gordian's death, due either to illness or treachery. His troubled five-year reign witnessed the onset of a steadily escalating series of invasions, epidemics, usurpations and economic crises that would soon bring the Roman Empire to the brink of extinction. The general coinage of this period is marked by a general decline in weight, fineness and production standards. Yet this sestertius, struck in the first year of Philip's reign, shows that the mint could still strike of good size, weight and artistry.
Ex Gorny & Mosch 271 (29 May 2020), lot 961; Gorny & Mosch 269 (9 March 2020), lot 1163.
Marcus Julius Philippus was Arabian by birth, but his early life is obscure. He rose to the post of Praetorian Prefect in AD 244, during the Persian campaign of the teenaged emperor Gordian III, and became emperor himself after Gordian's death, due either to illness or treachery. His troubled five-year reign witnessed the onset of a steadily escalating series of invasions, epidemics, usurpations and economic crises that would soon bring the Roman Empire to the brink of extinction. The general coinage of this period is marked by a general decline in weight, fineness and production standards. Yet this sestertius, struck in the first year of Philip's reign, shows that the mint could still strike of good size, weight and artistry.