Nummus - Licinius I IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG, Nicomedia

Licinius I struck heavily in the IOVI CONSERVATORI series throughout his eastern mints during the years following the Edict of Milan — Jupiter as divine protector of emperors was a deliberate ideological counterweight to Constantine's increasingly Christian symbolism. The two augusti were already drifting toward open conflict, which finally came in 324 when Constantine defeated Licinius at the Battle of Chrysopolis, just across the strait from Nicomedia itself. Licinius was subsequently executed, and his coinage was subject to damnatio memoriae.

Nicomedia had been Diocletian's preferred eastern capital and remained a high-output mint. RIC VII Nicomedia 24 is among the more frequently documented issues from this phase of Licinian production.