• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Why no silver coins?

stetam

Elite Member
Joined
May 20, 2018
Messages
2,930
Location
Jonestown, PA
I have been hunting for a year and a half using a Nox 600, Park 1 for homesites and trashy areas and Field 2 for farm fields. This summer I did find 1 gold ring and 6 silver rings as well and a 1960 quarter and an 1918 Merc. Last week I dug my first Buffalo nickel and Indian penny so I believe I am getting better. I see all these folks getting big silver all the time. I know it's about location and I believe I'm hitting the old sites, but not pulling silver. The Nox is getting deep targets so I'm not sure what I am doing wrong if anything.

Steve
 
I hit a lot of old country home sites, 4 of 5 are a bust. Some 150 y.o. yards hold not a single coin. Yard hunting has been popular for at least 50 years now...the parks have been pounded...I use to pull 50+ silvers the first 5 years, I haven’t found a single silver yet this year.
 
I believe most old homesite, the occupants weren't cash rich to. Army around d much silver. Maybe a few copper coins in change , hence that's whats been dropped. Also a good chance site has been detected before. Starting 1965 a lot of hoarding started with silver coins. They're still out there, just not easy to find.
 
Spell check went crazy. Forget the Army sentence. Just to say I believe most occupants didn't carry around much silver likely a few copper coins. Most home sites I go to there's no silver. Or its been found before.
 
Over

The years silver has been getting harder to find, back in the 70s i got it all the time, there is some still out thier to find, think out of the box , as the area's heavy hit have less to find.
 
I see all these folks getting big silver all the time.

I know it seems that way when reading through these metal detecting forums, but big silver is often celebrated because it's so uncommon to find. A few of the more dedicated silver hunters will post big numbers and big silvers enough to make it seem easy...but it ain't. It takes dedication and practice. After many hunts in good locations, certain skills develop. It sounds like you are developing those skills just fine. Keep at it. Reading the forums and posting this question are great ways to gather information to help improve your skills. Keep at it. :yes:
 
Don't feel bad, it seems other members, including myself, can go over a year before finding even one silver.

I just found my first silver a short while back in a park in an area that was used as far back as the 1700's. It was roughly about 8 - 10 inches deep if I remember correctly and there was metal trash in the same hole which might have hid the Merc from past detectorists.

Other posts have shared good reasons why silver might be hard to find in many areas.

I think a big part of the lack of silver is simply that over the years other detectorists have gotten to them first, and obviously since clad started about 1964 it has been a long time since silver has been dropped except maybe for rare exceptions.

I am thinking the better chance of finding silver is to get private property permissions, especially if that private property has never yet been detected, while that is no guarantee, at least if silver was dropped there in the past it still should be there.

Not saying you can't still find silver in public areas, but it might tend to be the very very occasional deep silver that past detectorists missed.

Also, while it also is no guarantee, if you ever get a chance to detect a tear-out of an old street or sidewalk before they recover it there might be a good chance of some old coins.
 
I have not found a silver coin this year. Detected a property that the owners grandparents lived on Nothing. I mean absolutely nothing. I did find 7 silver coins a couple years ago where he and his parents lived when he was growing up They have to be in the dirt or you to find them. I see guys posting silver that they have found at the beach. I have found one merc at the beach in years of searching.
 
I hunted s 160+ year old yard in an excellent area. My friend is 70 yrs old, lived most his life there, said nobody ever detected the 1.5 acre yard. One 1907 silver half with a 22 Cal dent in the center. That's it besides a clad quarters and a couple Lincoln's. And I hit it slow n low with the Xterra 705 and we bought the friend/owner a Euro Tek Pro ( his first detector). We hunted the snizzle outa dat thing 1.5 acres ONE silver,. That was all. And I'm currently in a pretty long silver drought here myself and just started hunting with a new equinox 600 this summer.
You have to be one of these half crazy guys clamoring way off into the woods where nobody else would bother going. Off in the poison ivy, ticks, snakes, we get many bears in places I like. But some of the off beat spots out there in the forrests is where you may have better odds. I've heard cellar holes miles back in the woods have been already hit as well though. Keep at it because luck can shine on you anytime. Some guys here walked right on to a hit and Bam!!! A Pine Tree Shilling coin from 17th century. Not expecting a find that hot but just lucked out. Stay the course. HH n GL
 
You have to be one of these half crazy guys clamoring way off into the woods where nobody else would bother going. Off in the poison ivy, ticks, snakes,

I do that and I have to hack my way into the brush with a machete most times.
I find so many 1800's relics but very rarely coins and big silver only once. It's not there in my area.
 
I have been hunting for a year and a half using a Nox 600, Park 1 for homesites and trashy areas and Field 2 for farm fields. This summer I did find 1 gold ring and 6 silver rings as well and a 1960 quarter and an 1918 Merc. Last week I dug my first Buffalo nickel and Indian penny so I believe I am getting better. I see all these folks getting big silver all the time. I know it's about location and I believe I'm hitting the old sites, but not pulling silver. The Nox is getting deep targets so I'm not sure what I am doing wrong if anything.

Steve
Parks are rare silver spots nowadays...

They been hunted for decades with every machine made since 1970s..
If you want silver in parks you gotta dig even the iffy deep iron signals as very deep silver on the edge of detection can sound like anything ..60 plus yr old homes/yards and farm fields are the best bet in this age...silver is getting scarce everywhere else
 
Seems like you are doing everything right. But I may add from my experience : I have been a little too excited at times going fast with my walk and swing. Sure , I found targets. But when I really slowed my swing down is when the ground came alive. I believe the processor couldn't register fast enough with the speed of my swing. Just a thought. Could be there just isn't silver where you've been hunting. GL...
 
It's still in parks but now the easy stuff is gone. The Nox will find it but takes a lot of experience to find. Try thinking outside the box, don't hit the logical areas that everyone hits. Try perimeters or out of the way areas.
 
You have to be one of these half crazy guys clamoring way off into the woods where nobody else would bother going

Hey, I resemble that remark! LOL! Gotta pay your dues in this hobby. Always think about the Star Trek theme when you hunt: "To boldly go where no man has gone before!" Anyone can do farm fields or trails. What separates the casual detectorist from the hard core guys are the ones willing to do the spots no one wants to tackle. Swampy areas, spots full of prickies and cellar holes that are a mile in the woods with no trails leading to them. Just my take on the subject...
 
I feel your pain. I got into this hobby decades too late. I was fortunate enough when i started that i didnt have much competition in my small town. I found 73 silver coins in my first season with the Nox including some i know i will never see come out of the ground ever again. That number has plummeted to low 20s this season and im scraping the bottom of the barrel and digging just about everything. I found 2/3 of a 52 Rosie this week and I was ecstatic as i hadnt found silver in a long while. Ive stopped expecting to find silver so that now when i do, its a nice surprise. I think its getting to be that way for everyone. To chamge things up, Ive concentrated on digging every midtone in an effort to find some gold this year. You should see the mound of shotgun headstamps and pull tabs ive amassed...i digress.

It sounds like youre doing everything right, just keep it up and you will find a spot that no one else has hit and you will be rewarded.
 
Hey, I resemble that remark! LOL! Gotta pay your dues in this hobby. Always think about the Star Trek theme when you hunt: "To boldly go where no man has gone before!" Anyone can do farm fields or trails. What separates the casual detectorist from the hard core guys are the ones willing to do the spots no one wants to tackle. Swampy areas, spots full of prickies and cellar holes that are a mile in the woods with no trails leading to them. Just my take on the subject...

Lol, hey when I wrote that it reminded me of you. I remember a post you wrote about going out where others wouldn't. I do a little crazy clamoring myself. They'll be a nice park with a resevoir and I walk off down trails out behind the place. Trails around back of parks at least. And then there's the brave/crazy. Hiking way out in the bush! Lol :yes:
 
Back
Top Bottom