"The IOVI coins were issued as
part of a coin reform by Licinius in
his territories (mints of
Heraclea,
Nicomedia,
Cyzicus,
Antioch, and
Alexandria) and were
reduced in value from 25, to 12 and a half. These coins
had negligible amounts of silver, while coins issued by
Constantine at this time
had around two percent. As a result these coins
had no value outside the territory of Licinius.
On the
reverse, in the right
field, there is an X over I I followed by an episemon ( An episemon is a sign that stands for a number) for the symbol half, so this coin literally gives its value as 12 and a half.
"The last sign is clearly an episemon, epigraphically employed for S(emis) also."
RIC VII p. 12
Semis literally means half, and the
semis coin was valued at half an As. Often, the
semis coin
had a greek letter similar to an S on it. The example below has it on the
obverse to the right of the
bust
The episemon on the IOVI coins is a
stylized version of the symbol on the
semis coin, and literally means half."
