My first thought after seeing the portrait was Caracalla... I’m not sure but we’re both in what I suspect to be the right time frame. IDing the coin by the reverse is probably the way to go.
You'll get the hang of it before long. The key is to know the attributes of various gods and goddesses and to read Greek inscriptions. We can make out C-CЄPΔIKHC on the reverse, which identifies the coin as being from Serdica, in Thrace (The full inscription is OVΛΠIAC CЄPΔIKHC). The reverse figure is naked male with a caduceus and something. That's Hermes, holding a purse (aka a marsupium) and a caduceus. An acsearch info search for "Hermes Serdica" quickly finds it: This is your coin.
I was just typing when RC replied . He is of course exactly right. The reverse figure is readily identifiable by what he is holding, and you can read enough of the reverse to name the city. Gosh I love attributing Provinial coins
Lol, halfway through typing the " new messages added " popped up. Looks like Tif did the same as me, RC is 100% correct with the type but your Obverse is a different bust type so not that Exact coin posted.
The exact bust type (laureate head) right is not to be found at acsearchinfo with the search parameters chosen. Here's one with a radiate head right.
One interesting feature of this coin is that it bears the inscription OVΛΠIAC before the city name. That inscription is also used with coins from a nearby city, Pautalia, in Thrace. It is the genitive form (transliterated into Greek) of the Latin Ulpius, which is the nomen of Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus). The term, OVΛΠIAC, means "of the city of Trajan" and indicates, if not the founder of the city, the reign in which the city was founded. See Ruzicka, Leon. Die Münzen Von Pautalia: Auszug Aus Dem Vortrage Gehalten in Der Monatsversammlung Der Numismatischen Gesellschaft in Wien Am 27. Oktober 1915. Mechitharisten-Buchdruckerei, 1915, p. 3. Here's one of Pautalia: Faustina II, AD 147-176. Roman provincial AE 20.7 mm; 5.96 gm. Thrace, Pautalia, AD 147-176. Obv: ΦΑVCΤΕΙ-ΝΑ CΕΒΑCΤΗ, pearl-diademed and draped bust, right. Rev: ΟVΛΠΙΑC ΠΑ-VΤΑΛΙΑC, Demeter seated l., with corn ears and long torch. Refs: BMC-9; Ruzicka-95; Moushmov-4104; Schönert-Geiss-58.
