Sale: CNG 64, Lot: 1176. Estimate $150.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2003.  Sold For $205. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHILIP I. 244-249 AD. AR Antoninianus (4.50 gm). Saecular Games issue. Struck 248 AD. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / Stag walking right; V. RIC IV 19; RSC 182. EF. ($150)

The most noteworthy event of Philip's reign was the delayed celebration in 248 AD of the thousandth anniversary of the foundation of Rome, held in conjunction with the Saecular Games. Lavish games and other spectacles were staged for the amusement of the Roman populace and an extensive series of coins was issued to commemorate the occasion. This antoninianus shows a stag, one of the wild beasts exhibited in the Colosseum at this time. These animals had originally been collected for the planned Persian triumph of Philip's predecessor, Gordian III, but following his assassination in 244 they were instead kept in readiness for the festivities of the millennium.