maybe 40hrs. I can't remember but I do know it was a rosey and my brother had just found his first silver ( a walker half) about 20 mins before me and no more than 30' away.
It took me about three hours. I searched an old homesite and found iron and some other items. I was walking back down a hill swinging freely and found a 1918 Merc in the middle of the woods.
My first two metal detectors I never found silver and on my third metal detector it was about a month when I found my first silver. Now on my 4th detector it was 1.5 hours and I found a silver dime
Can you believe I found a 1964 rosie the first time I used my ACE 250. It was in my own yard. My (then) house was built in 1969, so I did not expect to find any silver!
Depends? Does a plated silver spoon count as silver? If so around 20 mins on my first ever hunt, and I think my second find after the nail. If it doesn't count it then took months for the 1935 Merc to show lol.