Æ29 - Philip I ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ ΚΟΛΩΝΙΑϹ, S C

Philippopolis in Arabia — modern Shahba in southern Syria — was founded by Philip I as a colonia in honor of his birthplace, the village of Shahba where he was born around 204 AD. The S C on provincial bronzes from this mint is an unusual affectation: it mimics the senatorial authorization formula of Roman imperial coinage, a self-conscious assertion of colonial status that few other eastern provincials bothered to claim so explicitly. Philip's reign ended in 249 when his forces were defeated by Decius at Verona, and coin production at the newly established colonia almost certainly ceased with it.