Though these mock-crowns or urns may have been neither one in the strict sense, I think here we behold a
man wearing one. The coin is a
Caracalla issue from Ankyra,
Galatia, 31mm, 16.9g, a
rare issue in a fairly large series celebrating the town's Sacred Game (
Hieros Agwn / Isopythia), in which prize-crowns or urns are an almost ubiquitous theme. I've not yet checked the one specimen listed in
Isegrim,
SNG von Aulock 6180, which might be a
bit sharper than mine, though the listing itself makes me doubt it. In any event, that is certainly no normal
wreath that this
victor is wearing, if this
is a
victor; maybe then as now, flashy and fleeting auxiliary prizes were
part of the fun and the spoils for whichever player played the game hardest.
