Philip I Antoninianus RIC IV Philip I 48B

Monetary Context and Denominational Background

The antoninianus, or radiate double denarius, represented the primary transactional silver denomination of the mid-third-century Roman Empire. First introduced by Caracalla in AD 215, the coin originally carried a tariff of two denarii despite containing the silver equivalent of only about one and a half denarii. By the accession of Marcus Julius Philippus, known modernly as Philip the Arab, in AD 244, the traditional silver denarius had ceased regular mass production, functioning primarily as a ceremonial denomination. The antoninianus consequently absorbed virtually the entire burden of state payments, military distributions, and tax collection. Economic pressures caused by ongoing frontier conflicts and state donatives to the military accelerated the steady decline of the coin's intrinsic metal content. Under Philip I, the antoninianus exhibited an average fineness hovering around 40 to 45 percent silver, with the remainder composed of copper and minor trace alloys. While earlier reigns had preserved higher silver standards, the mid-240s AD marked an era where metallurgical decline remained gradual compared to the severe debasement episodes seen two decades later under Valerian and Gallienus. Type RIC IV Philip I 48B emerged within this framework, providing dependable base-silver currency to settle urgent administrative obligations and advertise imperial ideology to soldiers and citizens alike.

Production and Mint Organization

The production of RIC IV Philip I 48B is attributed securely to the primary imperial mint in Rome. During the reign of Philip the Arab, the Rome mint was organized into at least six distinct operational workshops or officinae, which divided production between issues for the Augustus, the empress Marcia Otacilia Severa, and their young son Philip II. While later emissions under Philip I frequently featured workshop markings such as Greek numerals or Roman letters in the reverse fields or exergue, early issues between AD 244 and 247 generally omitted explicit officina signatures. Mint personnel manufactured planchets through casting round blanks in composite open or bivalve moulds, followed by hot striking between hand-carved iron dies. Die alignments for this issue tend to cluster around regular six o'clock or twelve o'clock axes, reflecting standardized production protocols within the urban mint. Metallurgical analyses of Rome issues from this interval demonstrate controlled alloying standards, though individual planchet weights varied considerably because mint workers struck coins al marco, targeting a predetermined number of coins per Roman pound rather than weighing each blank individually. The scale of output at Rome was substantial, supplying large volumes of coin to finance infrastructure, palace expenditures, and logistical supply trains operating across the empire.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Philip I 48B presents an official portrait of Philip the Arab facing right. The emperor is depicted wearing the radiate crown, the signature numismatic attribute of the antoninianus that visually communicated both double-value tariffing and solar divine protection. His bust is depicted with combined drapery and cuirass, viewed from the right, capturing the paludamentum pinned at the shoulder over military body armour. This detailed rendering of the bust distinguishes sub-type 48B from variant 48A, which presents the emperor wearing only a cuirass without the overlying military mantle. Philip's portraiture on this issue reflects typical Roman imperial verism adapted to the soldier-emperor model: closely cropped hair, a short and clipped military beard, a prominent brow, and resolute facial features. The die-engravers at Rome captured a mature statesman seeking to project gravitas and authority in the immediate aftermath of Gordian III's death on campaign. The portrait die is encircled by a uniform border of dots, enclosing the engraved legend snugly against the rim.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse of the coin features Securitas, the personification of security and freedom from anxiety, seated facing left on a throne or stool. She is dressed in classical drapery (stola and palla) falling in folds to her feet. Securitas rests her head languidly against her upraised left hand, her left elbow balanced either against the arm of the throne or upon an adjacent column, while holding a long vertical sceptre in her right hand. This distinctive posture of resting the head upon the hand or elbow was a long-standing classical iconographic convention denoting complete tranquility, ease, and absolute confidence in personal safety. The accompanying sceptre represents sovereign authority and divine order, signaling that this calm is guaranteed by the power of the ruling Augustus. By invoking Securitas in combination with the legend SECVRIT ORBIS, the imperial administration delivered a clear programmatic message: despite the shock of imperial transition in Mesopotamia, the civil state and global order of the Roman world remained calm, secure, and impervious to external disruption.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The obverse inscription reads IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, expanding to Imperator Marcus Iulius Philippus Augustus. This titular formula incorporates Philip's full imperial nomenclature: the military title Imperator celebrating supreme command, his gentilicium and praenomen Marcus Julius inherited from family citizenship, his cognomen Philippus, and the supreme imperial designation Augustus. The lettering is rendered in regular imperial capitals characteristic of the Rome mint, with upright stems, clear serifs, and proportional spacing around the periphery. The reverse bears the inscription SECVRIT ORBIS, an abbreviation of Securitas Orbis, translating as 'The Security of the World' or 'Security of the Globe'. The phrase stands in the nominative case, identifying the divine abstraction embodied by the central seated figure. The legends lack officina letters or exergual marks on this specific type, keeping the design fields unencumbered and focusing attention directly on the personification.

Typological Classification and Chronological Sequence

In the standard reference corpus Roman Imperial Coinage, Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham catalogued the seated Securitas series under Philip I as number 48. Within this broad entry, typological distinctions rest on the bust attire: RIC IV Philip I 48A features a bust that is radiate and cuirassed only, while RIC IV Philip I 48B designates specimens where the bust is radiate, draped, and cuirassed. The type belongs to Philip's early Rome mint issues, struck between AD 244, following his accession in the East and subsequent arrival in Rome, and AD 247, prior to the major commemorative series prepared for the Roman Millennium in AD 248. Unlike issues bearing tribunician numbers (TR P to TR P V) or consulship designations (COS I to COS III), type 48B lacks dated magistracies, precluding narrow single-year precision. Numismatists place the series alongside other general ideological types from the initial emission cycles, such as Pax Aeterna, Fides Militum, and Victoria Aug, which sought to legitimize the new dynasty and establish public confidence across the empire.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Evidence

Coins of RIC IV Philip I 48B saw extensive circulation across the European, North African, and Near Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. antoniniani of Philip the Arab were primarily introduced to regional markets through state distributions to military legions stationed along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, as well as civic disbursements in Italy. Archaeological find data compiled across Britain, France, Germany, and the Balkans indicate that Philip's radiates circulated heavily alongside issues of Gordian III, Decius, and Trebonianus Gallus. In major third-century savings hoards, such as the Normanby and Dorchester hoards in Britain or continental deposits along the limes, Philip's silver coins are well represented, typically showing moderate to heavy circulation wear depending on the date of final hoard concealment. Because their silver fineness (exceeding 40 percent) was higher than the severely debased billon radiates struck after AD 260 by Gallienus and Postumus, many coins of this type were hoarded and withdrawn from everyday circulation under Gresham's Law during the later third century, preserving substantial numbers for modern study.

References

1. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman Empire. pp. 82-95
2. The London Mint of Constantius and Constantine. pp. 14-18
3. Roman Coins. pp. 42-47
4. Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193-284. pp. 215-228
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part III: Gordian III to Uranius Antoninus. p. 73, no. 48B
6. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Philip I 48B. ric.4.ph_i.48B