67, Lot: 133. Estimate $75. Sold for $40. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHILIP I. 244-249 AD. AR Antoninianus (22mm, 4.80 gm). Antioch mint. Struck 244 AD. IMP C M IVL PHILIPPVS P F AVG P M, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Spes advancing left, holding flower and raising skirt. RIC IV 70; RSC 221. VF.

An issue from Antioch, since the inclusion of P F in the imperial title is not to be found in Philip's issues from Rome. The addition of P M does not mean Pontifex Maximus; rather it is Persicus Maximus, and refers to the conclusion of Rome's four-year war with Shapur I, king of Sasanian Persia. Once emperor, Philip did negotiate a peace with Shapur Philip made a peace treaty with the Persian king Shapur in which he agreed to pay an initial 50 million sesterces as well as a possible annual tribute; thus the inclusion of the personification of Spes as well as the legend, SPES FELICITATIS ORBIS (the hope of the world's good fortune), assumes a particularly ironic connotation.