where to dig silver coins?

copperdigger

New Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2017
Messages
6
Location
upstate NY
I am a coin collector, and metal detectorist. IN my first year of the hobby I have found a two cent piece(and countless pulltabs), but never a silver coin! a 2 cent is more exiting, but I need some searching options for silver coins.
Does anyone have advice on the types of places to maximize my chances of finding silver coins?
 
I do well in Park strips (with old trees) adjacent to churches, apartment complexes, old businesses etc. Good hunting!
 
Silver is where you find it. Focus on areas with activity pre-dating 1964.

Was there something eye popping and mind blowing I missed in this thread?:lol::lol::lol:
 
My best spots for silver are ballfields that were established before 1970.
Next on the list, front yards of homes built before 1970. Pre-1900 homes are great but only if they have the original grade (no fill dirt).
 
My best spots for silver are ballfields that were established before 1970.
Next on the list, front yards of homes built before 1970. Pre-1900 homes are great but only if they have the original grade (no fill dirt).

Bingo on all above! My strategy EXACTLY!
2 things on those ball fields...you’d better have a setup that sees a 10” quarter or forget it,at least around here.The ball field is the number one thing that gets mowed religiously every week,maybe twice in 10 days...there’s a lot of grass deposition that has built up and has buried those coins deeper and deeper for a long time. Lots of people have hunted them in the past. It means very little. Get a big coil and a machine with excellent ID at depth and go to town. Be careful to be neat! All of my ball field silver is at 8”+ except for a fluke every 12-15 coins or so. If you learn to hunt deep in these ball fields you will find silver. Period.
This is where a very large coil earns its keep...
 
Curb Strips and Private property seem to have the best luck for me. Go into your downtown area and look for old places out of the way or some old curbstrips. If you find some old houses and the owner is out, approach them commenting on the property and your hobby, they may let you detect
 
For me it's always places older than the early 1960's...the parks, ballfields, schools and patches of woods...and the beach after a good storm moves sand. 95% of the silver I dig comes from these public spots.
 
Read as many posts as you can from the other silver hunters. Pay attention to the pictures of sites as well as study the write-ups for tips and specific gear....Then its a matter of using what works for them in your AO.....

The real treasure is this Forums Membership, freely shared success that you can duplicate without having to learn it all on your own!
 
Bingo on all above! My strategy EXACTLY!
2 things on those ball fields...you’d better have a setup that sees a 10” quarter or forget it,at least around here.The ball field is the number one thing that gets mowed religiously every week,maybe twice in 10 days...there’s a lot of grass deposition that has built up and has buried those coins deeper and deeper for a long time. Lots of people have hunted them in the past. It means very little. Get a big coil and a machine with excellent ID at depth and go to town. Be careful to be neat! All of my ball field silver is at 8”+ except for a fluke every 12-15 coins or so. If you learn to hunt deep in these ball fields you will find silver. Period.
This is where a very large coil earns its keep...

All good advice, but the cause of the coins being deep is not grass deposition.
 
My house is built in 1842, but I have never found a silver coin. I live in upstate NY.

Looking at some old maps of your area might show buildings that are no longer there: houses, schools, churches, businesses, perhaps a former fairgrounds, maybe even a town that is no longer there.

I'm curious about the yard of your house. Is it a fraction of an acre in a city, or are you out in the country and have some acreage? Have you found any old coins or relics near your house?

Do you know if all or part of the yard had had fill dirt added in the last 50 years? If your yard has the type of trees that have root systems stretching out a few feet and you can see them, the area probably doesn't have fill dirt. Erosion on hills can keep old coins shallow.

I live in a suburb that had no parks before 1963. I found 11 silvers in a 1963 park, and 3 silvers in a 3 acre 1964 park. I detected a school that opened in I think 1972. My finds included 1961 GW quarter, antique ring likely silver, and a 1907-D Barber Dime 2.5" deep. Used to be a farm where the school is.

Detected a park made about 1990. Got a silver Roosevelt fairly near the new sidewalk. Near a green electrical box, got a 1892 Barber quarter 2.5" deep. There used to be 2 farmhouses there. The area was bulldozed, but they didn't want to go too near the sidewalk or electrical box.

Wikipedia is pretty good for listing true ghost towns and usually has articles on very small towns that are still there and never were big. Another site that has locations of old ghost or near ghost towns is hometownlocator.com/ It has much other info as well. Historicmapworks.com has many old maps of places in NE US; also on maphistory.info decent collection of maps under US states and areas; amount and type of info varies by state, Best wishes.
 
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No one has mentioned it yet, but what detector are you using? Maybe unknowingly you are using less than ideal settings. Let us know what you've got and I'm sure many here can guide you to the settings that will get you in that silver butter zone!
 
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