Define a silver drought.

Dan B.

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I know a drought is going a period of time without finding something. What amount of time does it take you to go without finding a silver to consider yourself in a drought?
I am sure ever opinion will be different. I put a 3-week limit on it.
 
If this was the 1980's when I started detecting, a drought would be no silver in TWO HUNTS because it was easy to find silver back then. Nowadays a drought is two MONTHS because silver doesn't come that easily anymore.
 
I have been living in the desert when it comes to silver coins. I found one last year and two the year before. I find far more silver jewelry than i do coins.

Finally got a little rain the first and second day of the month.

4 Mercs, two rosies and a 39 quarter came out of the dirt. Best permission I have had in a long time.
 
Thats a funny question, for me any way, I find lots of clad, in places I think old stuff would be, but never find anything older then 1966, but I just keep going and going and going,,,,,,,,
 
I've been detecting since April and on June 9th I dug my first silver coin of the year. I have 5 pieces of sterling silver jewelry. The silver drought is over but a new one is probably just beginning because I have no idea if I'll find another silver coin this year.:laughing:
 
I’m pretty new at this and have never found a silver coin with metal detector... so is that a drought or what?
 
I’m pretty new at this and have never found a silver coin with metal detector... so is that a drought or what?

My first year and a half I did not find any silver either. It all has to do with research, location and the amount of time you put into it.
My wife and I work opposite shifts and we are also empty nesters. So I have the ability to metal detect three or four days out of the week. Sometimes I complain to the wife if silver doesn't come as often as I think it should. She also reminds me I should be thankful for what I find.
Keep at it there is silver out there for you! HH&GL
 
Heading to detect a new place right now so we shall see!


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Thats a funny question, for me any way, I find lots of clad, in places I think old stuff would be, but never find anything older then 1966, but I just keep going and going and going,,,,,,,,

Keep at it hopefully you find silver soon.HH
 
I'm not sure I've ever experienced a "silver drought". In order to call it that, I would only count the hunts where I am targeting the old silver coins, and not the hunts where clad and/or jewelry is the main focus. Now, just counting those silver hunts, I'd say about 4 to five hunts without success would be a "slump". Then, if the slump continues to twice that, say ten hunts with no shiny, I'll be crying "drought!" Also, just killing time, hammering away at my local hammered park, still counts, because I would be seeking those deeper, hidden silvers. If it gets me into a slump there, though, I will go elsewhere to break it before it turns into a drought.
 
It think it all depends on the person's experience, the machine being used and the locations being hunted. There's no one answer that applies to everyone. What one person may consider to be a slump, another may consider avarage for thier area and experience.
 
In almost six years I have found ONE silver Merc at the beach. I hunt the local beaches frequently, It was in a wallet with a credit card that had been expired for 7 years. No identification in the wallet. I envy the ones whose beaches yield silver coins.
 
I always go out with the idea I'm going to find silver so one hunt without would be drought. If I am hunting lots then that's different because I am happy then to find some cool relics, tokens, marbles and stuff so silver isn't as important for me to find on those hunts because other stuff is just as cool.
 
I know a drought is going a period of time without finding something. What amount of time does it take you to go without finding a silver to consider yourself in a drought?
I am sure ever opinion will be different. I put a 3-week limit on it.

You're adorable. I've been detecting since 2010 (with a few looong breaks in there) and have never found a single silver coin.

Silver jewelry, lots of it. Coins? Nary a one. I've found more than a dozen in Coinstar reject trays, random change drawers, and once even on the sidewalk with the Mark I Eyeball. But never with a detector.
 
It used to be rare for me to find a silver coin, now I find them with more regularity. I am not on the level of some on this forum who have found hundreds of them, but I am now disappointed when I don't find one when I hunt. I changed a lot about how I do things this year, and I think that has led to some of my better finds.
1) I bought a good detector - AT Pro.
2) I almost always wear the headphones. They help me notice those quieter tones.
3) When I hunt parks, I stay away from the play equipment. A lot of parks have big grassy areas, and that is where I focus. A lot less trash, and it seems I can find better targets to dig.
4) I have slowed way down when I hunt.
5) I research a lot. What was there before the park, how old is the park, what events do they have, etc.
I am not sure which, or if any of these things is what helped me, but my results are much better this year. The last two hunts combined I have found 3 silver coins, 2 .925 rings, and ~$15.00 in clad.
 
I spend most of my time deep in the woods looking for colonial relics, so I can go months without finding any silver. No big deal to me. I'll take a colonial shoe buckle over yet another merc any day.
 
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