Well, here is number 100 and some pics of the complete set. # 100 is: Constantine I, AE follis, Rome. AD 314. IMP CONSTANTINVS PF AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. SOLI INVICTO COMITI, Sol standing right, looking left, chlamys across left shoulder, holding globe and raising right hand. R-F across fields. Mintmark R star P. RIC VII Rome 19 var (Sol's position); Sear 16096 var (ditto). There is an information page for each coin and the coins are in 2 X 2's in a similar binder.
I have number 101 through 120 in process. When I decided that I was done collecting the expensive US Mint products I thought I would just quit and spend time tidying up my collection. Then I started on these ancients. They are fun and very inexpensive the way I go about it. I'm not trying to find any particular coin - just the one that is under all that dirt.
Congratulations. Nice collection you've assembled - the information page is quite impressive. Those SOLI INVICTO Constantines are kind of confusing to me, although they are fun to try and attribute. Here are a couple of mine from the Rome mint: Constantine I Follis (Æ 19) (315 A.D.) Rome mint IMP CONSTANTINVS PF AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust rt. / SOLI INV-I-CTO COMITI, Sol standing left in chlamys holding globe and raising right hand. C-S across; R T in ex. RIC VII Rome 40, T (3.42 grams / 19 mm) Constantine I Follis (Æ 20) (314 A.D.) Rome mint IMP CONSTANTINVS PF AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust rt. / SOLI INV-I-CTO COMITI, Sol standing left in chlamys holding globe and raising right hand. R-F across; R*T. RIC VII Rome 20. (3.30 grams / 20 mm) Constantine I Follis (Æ 18) (317-318 A.D.) Rome mint IMP CONSTANTINVS PF AVG, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right / SOLI INV-I-CTO COMITI, Sol standing left in chlamys holding globe and raising right hand, wreath in left field, R T in exergue. RIC VII Rome 97, T (2.77 grams / 18 mm)
Nice collection. I did something similar years ago: had all the Lincoln cents, Mercury dimes, etc., except for a couple of key dates which cost hundreds of dollars and discovered ancients just as I was about to give up. I've never looked back. I have a couple of questions. The top of your information page example shows a "catalog" image. Where did this image come from? Do you have a catalog image for every coin in your collection? It might be a good idea to include the source of that image in your notes. As your collection grows--and let's face it: we both know it will--it will because increasing difficult to track down a particular coin unless you have them organized somehow. Are your coins arranged in any particular order? If they are just random, you might consider putting them in chronological order and including a table of contents at the beginning for quick reference. Write the order number on the sheet holder and slide holders rather than on the paper or the flip. This was, as new coins enter your collection you can change the collection number easily without having to cross out the number. Also, is #46 really silvered? If so, that would suggest that it's genuine, not barbarous. The coins (antoninianii) of Probus were made of billon--a mixture of bronze and silver--and then coated with a thin silver wash. Normally a coin with a bronze core and a thin silver coating would be called a fourree, an ancient counterfeit, but that's not the case with Probus' coins. Here's an example from my collection: You can see the darker billon core peaking through the silver wash in many places. The core of this coin is a darker gray. One some coins I've seen, the core is dark brown or almost black, but they were all genuine. Anyway, congratulations on your first 100 coins!
@gsimonel Thanks for all the feedback. I am a novice for sure. The "catalog" images, that later on I changed to "reference" image, are out of Wildwinds. I have a few missing. Perhaps I should send a note to Dane and see if she has a problem with that. At the time the coins are in random order. I expected to have but a few. I need to re-think that. I will look closer at Number 46 and get back. Thanks again, if it is going to grow I need to prepare for it.
@gsimonel Here are some photos of #46. The silver is very thick and in places I can see bronze underneath. You can also see voids and what looks like bubbles. More feedback would be appreciated.
You may not experience this but many people reach a point where they tire of getting 100 new coins and finding out that most of them are duplicates of coins they already have. I missed why you thought #46 was barbarous. Mine has no obvious silver.
@Inspector43, I see no reason to suspect that your Probus antoninianus is barbarous. That thin layer of silver is typical for that issue, and the style is correct. From the photo, it looks official.
I used to sell my duplicates individually on eBay. Money was tight back then, and I usually earned enough selling them individually to buy another batch of uncleaned coins. The key was to identify them properly--the more your know about an ancient coin, the more interesting and desirable it is.