So once again I seem to have reached a dead end in my research, but I know that someone here will get me on track to attributing this humble Roman provincial coin. We got it because my daughter liked the miniature bust at the right of the larger bust. It was labeled as Severus Alexander, but I suspect that it may be earlier. My hunch is Augustus or Nero. The coin is 21mm and weighs 6.8g. (My photography does not do this coin justice, it is much better looking in hand). Any ideas would be appreciated.
I have a somewhat similar coin from Arados but the large deity head + small emperor head but all of these Arados examples have bulls on the reverse, as far as I can tell. PHOENICIA, Arados Trajan. CE 98-117 CY 375 (CE 116/7) Æ22, 9.65 g Obv: draped bust of Astarte-Europa right; before, small laureate and draped bust of Trajan Rev: bull charging left Reference: SNG Copenhagen 81; BMC 374 I agree that the portraits look earlier, perhaps Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, or Trajan. A very quick pass through those emperors' provincials on Wildwinds didn't show a match. I'll continue looking through other databases tonight if no one else has identified it.
It should be Kingdom of Thrace, Rhoemetalces I with head of the King on obverse and head of Augustus on reverse. The small bust on the obverse is described as a bust of Kotys IV (Cotys IV). Like this or similar to it: http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=14531
The style of the busts are quite distinctive to me, but this particularly variety with the small bust seems scarce. And particularly with no busts of the respective queens : http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=100792
Thanks Zumbly, that certainly looks close. It's interesting to learn that the "micro bust" is the former ruler Kotys IV. I was thinking that it might be a nod to a child that had yet to attain full bust status. (Did I really just type "full bust"?)
