Dear Friends of Ancient Coins! These are details of the same coin: Marcianopolis, Commodus, AMNG 541. The question: Is this head-dress a mural crown or a kalathos? What do you think? Any opinion highly appreciated! Thanks Jochen
Well, I had to look up "kalathos" since this was my first time encountering the term, but that didn't look like a mural crown to me.
Dear lordmarcovan! Thank your for sharing your opinion. I agree with you. Behrendt Pick, the author of AMNG (1895), is still regarded today as the German numismatist who described the coins with the greatest precision and care. Consequently, his monumental work, AMNG, remains the standard reference for the coinage of Marcianopolis and Nicopolis. I have now gone through all his descriptions of the Tyche figures listed there, and not a single one wears a mural crown; instead, if she wears anything on her head, it is a kalathos! A mural crown on the head of a Tyche from Marcianopolis or Nicopolis would therefore be a sensation. Kind regards Jochen
For a comparison, the city walls on the mural crown of Tyche on the reverse of the coin below are among the most clear of several coins that I have which depict her. The head-dress on the OP coin does not look like a mural crown to me either.
