Roman Provincial AE with Cluster of Grapes - Help Please

This has me stumped - I have looked at a lot of small Roman Provincial AEs with clusters of grapes and there are a lot more of them than I thought! I'm guessing it is from Thrace or Moesia, but I am not coming up with even a semi-close match

Or is this thing on the back a cluster of grapes? The little pigtail stem is not like anything I've seen. And it seems to be flattened at the bottom, perhaps resting on a base. A beehive? A Cappadocian pinecone? A baetyl with a hanging hook?

It 3.13 grams and 17 mm.



The obverse legend is the usual AVK-something, with a beardless (?) portrait (Severus Alexander? Caracalla? Elagabalus?). Here is what I can make out of the reverse legend :



Any help greatly appreciated.

 

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Could it be a snake coiled around a rock ?
Not had chance to check yet, just off the top of my head.

 

How about diadumenian?

 

Thank you! Yes! Yes, I think that is what it is. I did some preliminary Google image searches and already the snake-around-a-rock (or omphalos) looks much more like my coin than grapes do.

I'll post more if/when I get a match. Thanks again.

 

I was wondering that too, but his titles were usually so long I ruled him out because of the number of letters on the obverse. But I am still looking and the bust definitely looks like a young guy like Diadumenian.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Wait - Commodus.


Different rev but the portrait has a little pigtail like yours

 

Maybe it’s a variant on the reverse- mine is a sort of altar surmounted by a crab(??)

 

Commodus is on my list for sure. hotwheelsearl's Commodus has a very similar portrait to mine.

On acsearch just found a Philip II from Bizas (bottom photo, mine on top):


https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2660096

Not quite there yet, but getting closer. At least I stopped looking at grapes, thanks to tenbobbit.

Ah, the thrill of the hunt.

 

Look for Pautalia, many similar to yours

 

Looks like you got it!

 

Bingo! I just pulled up several varieties of this on RPC online and I feel a match coming on - that "O" in the reverse inscription was a stumbling block, but RPC is showing this:

Reverse inscription ΟVΛΠΙΑϹ ΠΑVΤΑΛΙΑϹ... I need to do some more research - RPC shows seven of these snake-altar type. But I think I am in the ballpark, finally.

Looks like hotwheelsearl's Commodus hint was spot-on too.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.