Aureus - Diocletianus IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG; Jupiter

Diocletian's early coinage reflects the ideological reconstruction he undertook after the catastrophic third century — a period during which Rome cycled through more than fifty emperors in roughly fifty years. Jupiter was adopted as the divine patron of Diocletian himself, while Hercules was assigned to his co-emperor Maximian, a theological division of divine sponsorship that underpinned the entire Tetrarchic system.

RIC V.2 #143 falls within the pre-reform gold coinage, before Diocletian's monetary reforms of 294 restructured the weight standard for the aureus.