Aureus - Licinius IOVI CONSERVATORI CAES, Antioch

Licinius issued this aureus from Antioch during a period of accelerating tension with Constantine — the two emperors had already fought once in 316–317 and the final war that would cost Licinius his throne was only two or three years away. The IOVI CONSERVATORI reverse type, invoking Jupiter as protector, was a deliberate ideological counter to Constantine's increasingly Christian iconography. Licinius was making a statement about religious and imperial legitimacy simultaneously.

The Antioch mint at this date was operating under close Licinian control, and RIC VII 33 is among the scarcer aurei of his eastern issues.