Late Roman emperors and empresses were often depicted on coins receiving their crown from the hand of God. The message being communicated by a Manus Dei holding crown on the obverse of a coin was that the ruler was appointed by God and ruled by divine right and inspiration. It was this kind of thinking that led to the elevation of many incompetent or corrupt monarchs, and eventually led to the overthrow of the institution of the monarchy in Western Europe twelve hundred years later.
In this image, the Hand of God is shown reaching down from above the image of Eudoxia holding a crown to place on her head. Eudoxia was the wife of the Eastern emperor Arcadius (A. D. 394 - 408). The Manus Dei is usually seen on the obverse rather than the reverse of a coin.
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