Here's a strange Roman Provincial coin with a Vespasian-like head on the obverse and a grotesque mask? on the reverse. Lettering is unclear. You may find it in RPC as Vol. II nr. 903. There it says "These coins are usually attributed to Vespasian, but Titus cannot be ruled out". The mint is Skepsis in Troas, the north-western corner of nowadays Turkey. And the reverse is identified as a Dionysus head, but don't you agree it is much like a theatrical mask? A few more coin types of Skepsis (or Scepsis in Latin) exist with Dionysus heads. This one measures 16 mm and weighs 2.59 gr.
On the RPC coin that you linked to, it is clearly a bust, rather than just a mask, on the reverse. But yes, I agree that it's a strange-looking Dionysus. Maybe he's just snockered.
Quite - it is a bust. But that’s not an ordinary head on that narrow-shouldered bust, it’s too large - like a mask. By the way, exactly before Vespasian’s nose, there is a blob - might be a letter or a star. Does anybody recognize this type?
