I stumbled upon this coin on eBay looking for some cheap Romans, listed as an unknown Greek bronze, the sharp nose & the hair bun screamed Cleopatra! the damage on the reverse made it hard to decipher, yet I made out a face (of Mark Antony?), but you can read ΒΑCIΛΙC... These are the only references I could get: https://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotv...&Lot=385&Val=301f3bdffbde919150b669901c18c7ca https://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotv...&Lot=690&Val=770507721ae0c06f69e75ebb13e11f8a The coin in the post is 3.6g, ~20mm, however, this coin has the bust wearing some sort of pearly head-gear tho!
I'm not sure that's a human face on the reverse. Intriguing coin, though. I'll be interested to see what other, more expert, members have to say.
Hair rolled upwards into a man bun in the back and wearing an ivy wreath is the hallmark of Dionysos.
In case it's helpful, here's a couple more examples of the coin that I think you suspect yours might be: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6056308 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5263427 You'll notice that the size is about right, but your coin is much lighter these these examples. Not sure how relevant that is.
I agree about the other side: bust right. That's probably the obverse and the coin is likely from a Roman province. It's often hard to determine emperor ID based on portraits since provincial portraits sometimes look nothing like imperial coins and statues. That said, I think the portrait looks Severan... Septimius? Caracalla? This would be a good coin to run through ISEGRIM but I don't seem to have the knack of knowing what search terms it will accept and where to put them, even using @EdSnible's simplified interface. Someday I hope to become more fluent with ISEGRIM because it's such a great resource for provincial coins.
Here's an intriguing option depending on how clearly you see BΑΣΙΛЄΩΣ - weight also doesn't seem quite right, but I like the mask of Silenos on reverse. Phrygia, Laodicea, pseudo-autonomous (2nd century), AE, Ailius Dionysios, magistrate. Obv: ΛΑΟΔΙKЄΩΝ, Draped bust of Dionysus right, wearing ivy wreath. Rev: AIΛ ΔIONVCIOC, cista mystica, with serpent and mask of Silenus. Size: 5.44g, 21mm I'd generally like to know more about what this is representing - here's a related combination on a coin from the Roman Republic. Perhaps general link between Libertas and Dionysus? Imperatorial Rome, C. Vibius Varus, 42 BC, AR Denarius, Rome mint Obv: Head of young Bacchus, wearing wreath of ivy and grapes, hair collected into a knot behind, one lock and fillet of wreath falling down his neck Rev: Panther springing left toward garlanded altar surmounted by bacchic mask and thyrsus; C • VIBIVS in exergue, VARVS upward to right Ref: Crawford 494/36
I like that option a lot! I was mistaking the "basket" for damage. I think you've got it right . (And now I need to hunt for a nice example of this coin for my collection )
PHRYGIA. Laodicea ad Lycum. Pseudo-autonomous. Time of Antoninus Pius (138-161). Ae. Po. Ailios Dionysios Sabinianos, magistrate. Obv: ΛΑΟΔΙΚЄΩΝ. Draped bust of Dionysos right, wearing ivy wreath. Rev: ΑΙΛ ΔΙΟΝVСΙΟС. Serpent-entwined cista mystica surmounted by mask of Silenos. RPC IV online 2114; SNG Copenhagen 532. Condition: Very fine. Weight: 6.25 g. Diameter: 19 mm. https://www.biddr.com/auctions/numismatiknaumann/browse?a=315&l=290846 Such a cool coin. Dibs on the next one