So how long till you found your first old coin?

First time i picked up a detector i found a large cent. My sons first coin was a flying eagle cent and my wifes first coin was a 1807 King George half cent.

For me it was just a couple months of detecting before I found my first silver. Between watching people over the years and my own experience , I noticed what seems to be the biggest obstacle to new people finding their first old coins is usually the choice of sites they hunt. There are a few that get lucky early on , but many new to the hobby stubbornly hold on to the idea that the most obvious sites are where they should be searching. The problem with that is if those sites are so obvious then everybody and their brother thinks so too and they have been hit hard over the years. Yeah , there can still be some good stuff there but it can take a long time to find it. Thinking outside the box and experimenting with different or less obvious sites can open up more potential for old coins quicker. I can only speak for myself , but I have always done better finding old coins by randomly hitting various sites of all kinds than persistently pounding one or two sites I refuse to give up on. Covering more ground and covering various grounds offers more potential. And most of my old coins either came from fairgrounds or sites where old buildings have been demolished. Usually as you gain more experience detecting you develop an eye for good potential in hunting sites. Many times the best ones these days are the less obvious ones most people would pass up.

First old coin was in the second week I was out and it was a silver trime, 1866. Needless to say I haven't had that kind of luck since but one or two IHP.s every time I go out now.

Barber dime

My very first find was a 1906 Barber Dime. Nothing like silver fever right out of the gate.

Metal detecting is like they say in real estate investing.....location, location, location. When you start hunting older sites, the older finds will start coming. And never pass up a repeatable deep signal no matter the target id/vdi. The older stuff is deeper, usually 6 inches plus. You will find occasional shallow oldies, but consistently the old stuff is deeper.

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It takes a while to learn a machine and get your technique down. I found a wheat after a month or so. My first silver (a merc) after about 2 months. After that good finds started pouring in as I became more proficient with the machine and finding spots where old stuff might be. Be patient and keep learning, no matter how long you have been detecting.

My second hunt, about 5 yrs ago. Found my first silver -- a no date type 2 SLQ. I didn't know what it was at first, as I had never heard of or seen one before