Quote Originally Posted by Tribunus Tiberius Claudius Marcellus View Post
Isn't a "symbol of a king's authority" worn on the head a type of crown, albeit not the Gold and Jeweled type that we think of today?
Yes and no.

A "crown", by modern generally accepted standards, is a jewelled headpiece ornament, commonly adorned with arches. This distinction [the arches] is usually seen in heraldry, as some crowns don't necessarily have that particular piece of decorations. But this serves to distinguish a "crown" from, for example, a "coronet" which would have served the title of a Duke, Earl or other greater nobles but the crown itself was a symbol of royalty.

But, stricto sensu, a crown is an ornamental headpiece that symbolises royalty. The term comes from the Latin corona which means both 'crown' and '[olive] wreath'.

The issue here is the fact that the "crown" has become a deeply symbolic element of modern folklore and is thus associated with its most common representation of the arched crown found in medieval heraldry.

But a diadem would technically still be a crown.

And since we're on the topic of coins... have you noticed how one of the Basileis of the Indo-Greeks looks like a lawyer in Victorian England? I'll get a screenshot as soon as I can, that's one of the funniest loading screens. Another Basileu from that list is wearing an elephant head as a crown (ahem), much like Alexander would have worn his lion-head helmet but that one just looks so wrong.