Philip I Antoninianus Found in Bath Hoard

A hoard of at least 150, and possibly as many as 1,000, Roman coins was recently discovered in Bath, England at the construction site of a new hotel. The lot is said to contain silver and bronze antoniniani of the mid third century. Condition is said to be “mixed” and only a single coin is identified thus far by ruler: an antoninianus of Philip I.

Philip I was born in the Roman province of Arabia, hence the name history remembers him by, Philip the Arab. He reigned 244-249 AD, rising from humble origins first to praetorian prefect and then to emperor upon the death of the young Gordian III. Just about the only noteworthy thing about Philip’s reign is that the city of Rome celebrated its 1,000th anniversary in 248 AD. The event was celebrated with games, and commemorated by an interesting series of coinage depicting various types of animals. Soon after, however, the situation began to fall apart for Philip. At least four usurpers arose in the provinces; military men whose legions proclaimed them emperor. He faced Pacatian in Moesia; Silbannacus and Sponsianus on the Rhine; and, in the east, Jotapian. Order was eventually restored, in part, by appointing Trajan Decius to deal with the revolt in Moesia. Decius so impressed the rebellious troops he was sent to subdue that they proclaimed him emperor and convinced him to march on Rome. He did, and defeated Philip and his larger force at Verona. We do not know whether Philip was killed in battle, or whether his own troops killed him.

Here is an example of a silver antoninianus of Philip I (RIC 27b; RSC 9; Sear 5 #8919) from my own collection:



The scan is admittedly poor, but the coin is graded at nearly FDC – fleur de coin – and is stunning in hand. The obverse features a radiate and draped bust of Philip facing right with the legend IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG. The reverse has Aequitas standing left holding scales and a cornucopia; the legend reads AEQVITAS AVGG. The double “G” in “AVGG” indicates that the coin was struck between 247 and 249, the time Philip’s son Philip II held the rank of Augustus and was co-emperor with his father.

I doubt the coin found in the Bath hoard looks anything like my coin. Then again, my coin hasn’t spent the last 1,700 years buried in the ground. I all likelihood my Philip antoninianus spent its 1,700 years preserved in various private collections. After all, coin collecting is the hobby of kings! It was probably dispersed from some great European royal collection between the 16th and 19th centuries and has probably been in scores of collections since that time, ultimately finding its way into mine about a month ago.

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