Empire. Philip I. Rome. AD 248. AR Antoninianus (4.23g, 12h). "Ludi Saeculares" issue commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Rome. Cohen 173; RIC 12. Lightly toned. Perfectly centered. Choice extremely fine. From a private collection; Tkalec 1998 (23 October) lot 263; Tkalec 1992 (23 October) lot 365

“There were thirty-two elephants, ten elk, ten tigers, sixty tame lions, thirty tame leopards, ten belbi (hyenas), a thousand pairs of imperial gladiators, six hippopotami, one rhinoceros, ten wild lions, ten giraffes, twenty wild asses, forty wild horses, and various other animals of this nature without number. Philip either presented or killed all of these at his Saecular Games" (Historia Augusta, The three Gordians, 33).