"Arab" OTD

[krazy]

Here is my newest acquisition:

Philip I
Antoninianus, Rome mint, 246 AD
Obverse: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, bust, radiate, draped & cuirassed right, seen from behind
Reverse: P M TR P III COS P P, Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus and cornucopiae
RIC 3 (C)
4.78 g, 22 mm

I liked it the moment I saw it and now I'm glad I didn't take the other coin I had in my mind . A die-match for the obverse I found on wildwinds (the one with black background, below). As you can see, the reverse has two breaks in legend. I only found specimens with no break or one break in legend:

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The Vatican portrait of Philip the Arab gives us the most realistic image of the emperor. There was indeed a standard for his statues, but also for his son's, as you can see below (eyes look upwards, "mouth shut"). This particularity/impression of the eyes looking upwards appears also on coins. Even small in comparasion with life-size portrait busts, the coins were supposed to give accurate depiction of the emperor, and some of them almost achieved this goal.  

Regards, Dany

Click to zoom

[slokind]

Congratulations.  And I agree that the Vatican Philip is one of the great Roman portraits.   Pat L.

P.S.  Being interested in Philip, if you don't have it already, you probably would like to read Michael Peachin, "Philip's Progress: from Mesopotamia to Rome in A. D. 244, in Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte vol. 40, no. 3 (1991), pp. 331-342.
If your library doesn't have that multi-lingual periodical, you can get it through JSTOR.  He does refer to coins, but not so much as I hoped; it is Philip that he is interested in.  He wishes to correct the cartoon-character encapsulation that we usually get.  I chanced upon this when I was tracking down Ann Johnston's article on Caracalla's travels.  It is good, when you give a reference to a periodical with a Latin title, like Historia, to provide the rest, so that one can find it in LOC, for example, as being in German, so far as the title and publication are concerned, and confined to ancient history.

[krazy]

Thank you Pat. On JSTOR there is a preview of the article with a footnote where is mentioned another article of J.M. York, "The Image of Philip the Arab", also in Historia, vol. 21 (1972), pp. 320-332. I hope I'll find them both.

[Noah]

Those are absolutely wondeful portraits on the coins.  You definitely have an "eye" for such nice specimens.

Best, Noah

[gallienus1]

What a magnificent portrait. It has the magic that makes collecting so worthwhile. We are incredibly lucky to live in a time when, if you keep a sharp eye out, it is still possible to buy and own these little treasures from the remote past. Well spotted Dany!

Regards,
Steve