AR23 - Philip I L Γ

Philip I became emperor in 244 AD after the death of Gordian III on campaign against Persia — circumstances suspicious enough that Philip himself was widely accused of engineering the young emperor's murder. He moved quickly to negotiate a peace with Shapur I, a settlement Romans considered humiliating, and returned to Rome to consolidate power. The Alexandrian mint, operating under the distinctive Egyptian reckoning year (here Lakenoios Γ, regnal year three), continued producing its tetradrachm-weight billon issues largely undisturbed by the political turbulence in Rome.

The Köln and Dattari references place this piece within a well-documented sequence, with Milne 3698 confirming the British Museum specimen as a close parallel.