amc rulz
Forum Supporter
i don’t understand. No mention of the magical NOX?
Why no silver coins?
- Thread starter stetam
- Start date
Patience and Persistence will always prevail. The three P's.. Good luck and keep at it.. Nuff said..
Coinshark
Elite Member
If you are having fun, no worries, it will come with time.
I have found that research and persistence really does help!
I have found that research and persistence really does help!
GKL
Forum Supporter
Foragist made a good point, reading the forum you can easily get the idea many many members are regularly pulling silvers out of the ground right and left almost every day, but keep in mind you are more likely to see posts about silvers and other super finds, but you might rarely hear about the many members that have hunts where they might have dug only Zincolns and trash.
Now I'm not saying there might not be exceptions with some members fortunate to live in areas where they can still find some locations where silvers are still somewhat more plentiful and I am genuinely happy for them, it gives me hope such locations might still be found.
The other point that was made was time spent detecting, someone who is able to spend 7 hours a day, 3 or 4 days a week detecting is obviously going to have a better chance at finding silver than those of us who might be limited to about a 3 hour hunt, 2 or 3 days a week.
Hey, I have had enough totally coinless hunts occasionally, that as much as I'd like to dig silver and other older coins, I am happy to simply dig any coins at all
stetam
Elite Member
Well I guess I really have'nt done too bad this year so far. Probably 50 wheat pennies, the 2 silver coins, 1 gold and 5 silver rings as well as 200 year old flat buttons, numerous old tokens the 1935 Buffalo and the 1882 Indian penny. And I do have some great really old sites to detect, they just take time to do over and over as there are so many targets I initially pass over. I have found those jumpy inconsistent signals many times turn out to be real winners. Still learning to read the Nox but have found it does do a great job.
I have a buddy who occasionally hunts with me and I consistently pull good stuff while he only getting trash and zincolns with his ace 300.
Steve
I have a buddy who occasionally hunts with me and I consistently pull good stuff while he only getting trash and zincolns with his ace 300.
Steve
amc rulz
Forum Supporter
Do you and your buddy compare signals/readings? Maybe he could use some help to understand what the better digs sound like.
stetam
Elite Member
I do but his signals seem to be all over the place and the Nox are mostly consistent. His swinging technique leave something to be desired so I'm trying to teach him.
Soil Surgeon
Forum Supporter
No silver or gold for me this year yet but it will be a joyous occasion when it finally does happen .
Skippy SH13
Forum Supporter
Nothing wrong. Sometimes silver just isn't there. You're better off targeting gold rings, anyway, and then buying the silver coins you want. LOL
Skippy
stetam
Elite Member
LovestheShiny!
Forum Supporter
I'll chip in a bit as I do chase silver coins. This thread, and a few others commenting about the lack of shiny coins made me take a look thru my 2019 and 2020 keeper coin books. Finding silvers is extremely dependent on LOCATION, followed by quality of detector and ABILITY with that detector. While I use the AT Pro, I know my machine very well after 3 1/2 years of use and thousands of hours and can eek out about every bit of performance it can give. Almost all my detecting buddies use the Nox 600 or Nox 800, one uses the E-trac, and another the CTX 3030, and our results are pretty equal.
My 2019 totals... 222 Silver Coins of which
162 came from private front yards here in Western Montana.
60 came from curb strips.
0 came from parks, schools, fairgrounds
My 2020 totals so far... 223 Silver Coins of which
190 came from private front yards.
32 came from curb strips.
1 came from a local park
I suspect my 2017 (154 silvers) and 2018 (212 silvers) albums might be more heavily weighted toward curb strips as I did a lot of detecting on them at that time. So... you can see where I detect and where I find silvers. I suspect the rest of the USA and Canada is the same as here in Western Montana. It is simply amazing detecting unchecked curb strips, and ditto when crossing the sidewalk from a "hunted out" curb strip onto the adjacent private property permission.
There is plenty of silver left in the ground, but not in the typical locations. I encourage you to try some private yards, any home from ca 1950 and older can have multiple silvers. I hope you do great!
My 2019 totals... 222 Silver Coins of which
162 came from private front yards here in Western Montana.
60 came from curb strips.
0 came from parks, schools, fairgrounds
My 2020 totals so far... 223 Silver Coins of which
190 came from private front yards.
32 came from curb strips.
1 came from a local park
I suspect my 2017 (154 silvers) and 2018 (212 silvers) albums might be more heavily weighted toward curb strips as I did a lot of detecting on them at that time. So... you can see where I detect and where I find silvers. I suspect the rest of the USA and Canada is the same as here in Western Montana. It is simply amazing detecting unchecked curb strips, and ditto when crossing the sidewalk from a "hunted out" curb strip onto the adjacent private property permission.
There is plenty of silver left in the ground, but not in the typical locations. I encourage you to try some private yards, any home from ca 1950 and older can have multiple silvers. I hope you do great!
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dirt dick
Elite Member
Often times that I hunt an area, or get a
" GOOD LOOKING PERMISSION"
Where I'm certain or think there should be old coins,
and I come up empty....
I hear my mother
saying,
"Some people didn't have money to lose."
" GOOD LOOKING PERMISSION"
Where I'm certain or think there should be old coins,
and I come up empty....
I hear my mother
saying,"Some people didn't have money to lose."
GKL
Forum Supporter
Very nicely presented info !!!!
I figured the best chance of silver would be private property permissions, though the curb strip amount you got is not bad either.
You didn't mention how many private yards you detected in 2019 and so far in 2020 to reach those totals, the reason I ask is to see what the average per yard might be. (I realize the average might vary with detectorists in other areas of the country)
What is usually your average per yard and do you have many yards with zero silver ?
LovestheShiny!
Forum Supporter
Thank you GKL! I usually find at least one silver, most likely a Silver Rosie or Merc dime, in a private yard, along with wheat pennies and other stuff. My best yard this current year yielded 6 silvers, the usual yard has a couple of silvers, many yards have 3-4 silvers. My best day this year was up in Missoula, with 11 silvers (found both in curb strip and yards). And fairly often I will be surprised with a Barber dime, quarter or half, or a Big Ben or a Walking Liberty Half! To get to 220+ silvers this year, I probably have detected 80-100 private front yards. I usually don't ask to check the back yard as at many of these homes, that is the "private" fenced in area and I want to respect the owner's privacy.
I have learned to recognize yards with replaced turf and added topsoil, sometimes I don't even bother to ask when I see the grass/dirt is 8" higher than the front sidewalk. Once in a while I do ask and check, and usually after 15 minutes of detecting and finding 7" copper pennies and 5" zincolns (and nothing old), I know what was done to the yard. The best yards are where you can see that the grass looks original and is about the same level as the original sidewalk or perhaps an inch or so higher. Those yards I am eager to detect as there is a high probability of something good!
I have detected a few yards that have previously been hunted (before the current owner lived there), they looked juicy but someone else got there first. An absence of anything old even though the house is old is the clue there. Yes, I do get "skunked" in some yards, but the vast majority of the time I find silvers, at least one, in most every original, undetected yard.
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GKL
Forum Supporter
Thanks for the detailed reply and wow, 80-100 private permissions this year ?
Sounds like you rarely get a "no"
So you only just knock on the door and ask or do you get referrals also ?
I figured with Covid this year many people might be more leery of visitors, so I've felt like it was better to limit asking permission to people I get in a conversation with in public, like people who ask what you found when you're detecting in a public park.
georgeinsc
Elite Member
I detected a loCal park that at one time was a baseball field. Firt visit i found a silver quarter. The property next door gave up a bunch of wheat pennies. Not the first silver.
Some time later i decided to work those two properties again. I took 4 silver dimes out of the park and 9 silver coins on the property next door. That was 13 silver coins that i had some how managed to miss the first time i covered those two properties.
Some time later i decided to work those two properties again. I took 4 silver dimes out of the park and 9 silver coins on the property next door. That was 13 silver coins that i had some how managed to miss the first time i covered those two properties.
LovestheShiny!
Forum Supporter
Thanks for the detailed reply and wow, 80-100 private permissions this year ?
Sounds like you rarely get a "no"
So you only just knock on the door and ask or do you get referrals also ?
I figured with Covid this year many people might be more leery of visitors, so I've felt like it was better to limit asking permission to people I get in a conversation with in public, like people who ask what you found when you're detecting in a public park.
Happy to give some thoughts GKL! I rarely get a "no" and I guess my personality and "harmless" appearance gets me lots of permissions. I just cold call and knock on the door when I see a front yard / home with good possibilities. I think I've only had 2 referrals this year. Sometimes it helps to catch people arriving or leaving their home, or out doing yard work or chores. My permission success rate is probably about 95%, though I've had a few days where I have been "O for" on getting the ok.
As per the Covid issue this year, when I knock, I do step back and keep a respectful distance from the front door. People run the whole range from being super scared of the virus all the way to those who don't care at all. Covid has actually opened up some permissions that I never would have gotten. A couple of the major universities here in Montana, with no students in attendance and remote learning only, have given me the OK to detect the campus and older student housing areas that normally would have been off limits. A few of these produced silvers, though a couple of the best areas detecting around 1890's "old main" style buildings let me know that they had been hard hit for many years, with few old coins, but lots of modern clad.
GKL
Forum Supporter
Thanks, I have gotten in the habit of watching for people in their yards especially with homes I know are fairly old, but guess I haven't been looking at the right times yet
I do carry a mask with me when detecting so if someone comes up real close to ask about my detecting I can put it on real quick, some people it might not matter to them but I'm sure some people likely appreciate the consideration of wearing a mask if the social distancing is too close.
amc rulz
Forum Supporter
I do agree, with the govt shutdowns folks are a bit leery of strangers. I’m assuming that city yards are best to hunt, as farmers were a bit tighter with their money if they had any to lose at all. All I hit are farmyards and they’re tough or have been hit in the past.
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