Lot 121
Lot 30121 > Philip II, as Caesar (AD 247-249). AV aureus (20mm, 4.11 gm, 6h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 2/5, wrinkled, marks. Rome, AD 244-246. M IVL PHILIPPVS CAES, bare headed, draped bust of Philip II right, seen from behind / PRINCIP-I IVVENT, Philip II in military dress, standing facing, head right, transverse spear in right hand and globe in left. RIC IV.III 216a. Calicó 3276. Very rare! Ex Nelson Bunker Hunt Collection (Sotheby's, 20 June 1991), lot 860 Born in AD 237, Marcus Julius Severus Philippus was seven years old when eponymous father, the emperor Philip I, had him proclaimed Caesar early in AD 244. Although the empire was beset with many troubles, the reign started off with some promise. Philip II accompanied his father on campaigns against the Quadi and Carpi on the Danube frontier in AD 245-7. When Philip I returned in triumph, his 10-year-old son was elevated to the rank of co-Augustus, and together they presided over the extravagant Saecular Games that marked Rome's 1,000th anniversary in AD 248. However, in the following months further turmoil on the frontiers led to a rash of attempted usurpations, the most serious by the general Trajan Decius, who then marched against Rome in mid-AD 249. The two Philips gathered a legionary force and marched out to meet the usurper at Verona, but were defeated and slain in battle. Gold coins dating from the reign of the two Philips are exceptionally rare, due to the increasing scarcity of precious metals in the mid-third century.
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