Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1062. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $13500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHILIP I. 244-249 AD. Æ Medallic Sestertius (21.06 gm, 12h). Struck 248 AD. IMP CAES M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from front / P M TR P V COS III P P, S C in exergue, Philip, laureate and togate, seated left on curule chair, holding globe in extended right hand and and baton in left hand. RIC IV 154a var. (bust seen from behind); cf. Gnecchi I pg. 48, 2 and pl. 24, 5 (silver; tres Monetae); Pink III, pg. 31 var. (same); Banti 39 var. (same); Hunter -; Cohen 151 var. (same). Superb EF, mottled brown and green patina. Exceptional in its artistry and historicity. ($5000)

From the Michael Weller Collection.

248 AD was a particularly felicitous year for Philip I. The war against the Carpi had been successfully concluded the previous year. At the same time, his young son had been elevated to the rank of Augustus, thus promoting a stable and potentially long lasting dynasty. Now as Rome prepared to celebrate the millennium of its foundation, Philip entered into his fifth consulship. To commemorate the special connection between these two events, this medallic sestertius was struck. Philip is normally portrayed on his sestertii with a bust viewed from behind. The bust type here, seen from the front, has previously been known only on silver medallions.