Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1086. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACE, Bizya. Philip I. 244-249 AD. Æ 34mm (25.47 gm). AVT K M IVL FILIPPOC AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / BIZV HNWN, "Adlocutio" scene: Philip I and Philip II on horseback right, being acclaimed by massed ranks of legionaries. Yuroukova -; Varbanov -; BMC Thrace -; SNG Copenhagen -. VF, tan patina, deep centering hole on obverse. Apparently unpublished. ($1000)

A most remarkable and probably unique display of Roman military tradition. The emperor and his son are addressing their troops, not as a handful of soldiers, but in the disciplined formation of the Roman legion. This coin undoubtedly records a specific event in the area of Bizya. It is known that Philip spent at least a year early in his reign subduing Germanic tribes infiltrating along the Danube frontier, while a more shadowy event took place in 248, the supposed usurpation of Marinus in Moesia. This coin may represent the Danube legions re-affirming their loyalty to Philip and his son.