22 wheats and no silver? SILVER TODAY!

[Tom Bigbee]

I have been hunting a elementary school built about 1960. I have found 22 wheat cents, lots of clad dimes and quarters but not the first silver coin. I have never seen anyone else hunting there. I have never owned a screen machine... one that tells you exactly what the target is. Are there detectors that tell you when you have a silver target? Is it possible someone has searched the school and only dug the silver coins? I'm not sure just exactly what these new machines are capable of. It's kind of hard to believe that those upper class kids didn't loose any silver rosies. I buried a merc about 6'' deep, same depth as most of the wheaties and got a good signal.

 

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[K Zack]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

The ID machines are not that Good, you can never be sure that it is not lying to you.
I hunt with a Minelab Explorer. If you dig only what you think is Sliver you will miss alot of old Coins and most of your Gold.
You found that many pennies There will be Silver there also, you just have not found it yet.
I am new here but I have been MD'ing for about 15 years.
Kevin

 

[gleaner1]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

The ID machines are not that Good, you can never be sure that it is not lying to you.
I hunt with a Minelab Explorer. If you dig only what you think is Sliver you will miss alot of old Coins and most of your Gold.
You found that many pennies There will be Silver there also, you just have not found it yet.
I am new here but I have been MD'ing for about 15 years.
Kevin

Zack, I think you miss spelled or miss spoke or something. The Explorer is an ID machine. I think? WTF?

 

[gleaner1]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

I have been hunting a elementary school built about 1960. I have found 22 wheat cents, lots of clad dimes and quarters but not the first silver coin. I have never seen anyone else hunting there. I have never owned a screen machine... one that tells you exactly what the target is. Are there detectors that tell you when you have a silver target? Is it possible someone has searched the school and only dug the silver coins? I'm not sure just exactly what these new machines are capable of. It's kind of hard to believe that those upper class kids didn't loose any silver rosies. I buried a merc about 6'' deep, same depth as most of the wheaties and got a good signal.

School aint old enough. Only four years of possible silver in the pockets of the lil monsters. In 1965, there was about zero silver in general circulation. Keep working it, you will find a bit of silver, and some bling. But it aint a real good site. Too new for silver.

 

[mrwilburino]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

I have been hunting a elementary school built about 1960. I have found 22 wheat cents, lots of clad dimes and quarters but not the first silver coin. I have never seen anyone else hunting there. I have never owned a screen machine... one that tells you exactly what the target is. Are there detectors that tell you when you have a silver target? Is it possible someone has searched the school and only dug the silver coins? I'm not sure just exactly what these new machines are capable of. It's kind of hard to believe that those upper class kids didn't loose any silver rosies. I buried a merc about 6'' deep, same depth as most of the wheaties and got a good signal.

School aint old enough. Only four years of possible silver in the pockets of the lil monsters. In 1965, there was about zero silver in general circulation. Keep working it, you will find a bit of silver, and some bling. But it aint a real good site. Too new for silver.

.....and while silver disappeared from circulation pretty quickly, wheats stuck around for a longer period of time............hence the discrepancy in the wheat to silver ratio at your site.

 

[K Zack]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

The ID machines are not that Good, you can never be sure that it is not lying to you.
I hunt with a Minelab Explorer. If you dig only what you think is Sliver you will miss alot of old Coins and most of your Gold.
You found that many pennies There will be Silver there also, you just have not found it yet.
I am new here but I have been MD'ing for about 15 years.
Kevin

Zack, I think you miss spelled or miss spoke or something. The Explorer is an ID machine. I think? WTF?

The Explorer is an ID machine? I suppose you are going tell me that the Spectrum XLT and the Sovereign XS-2 Pro are ID machines also? I am in Trouble Now.
I might not have spoke myself real Clearly so here is the Point,
The Id Machines that I Have Used over the years ( All listed Above) are not accurate enough for someone to go in and pick out Only Sliver!!!! There are to many things in the ground that have an effect on what the meter will tell you.
Tom Bigbee, Good Luck with your Hunt,

 

[TORRERO]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

I have been hunting a elementary school built about 1960. I have found 22 wheat cents, lots of clad dimes and quarters but not the first silver coin. I have never seen anyone else hunting there. I have never owned a screen machine... one that tells you exactly what the target is. Are there detectors that tell you when you have a silver target? Is it possible someone has searched the school and only dug the silver coins? I'm not sure just exactly what these new machines are capable of. It's kind of hard to believe that those upper class kids didn't loose any silver rosies. I buried a merc about 6'' deep, same depth as most of the wheaties and got a good signal.

For years I have been hearing people say that someone came through and cleaned out all the silver...
I can not believe that this is true.
A discriminating machine might cut out lower targets but things like copper wheat's and silver dimes
run really close together and there is no logic to the thought that someone would dig a silver dime
but not a copper penny.
I have seen places like this and what you get is what you get. If you dig no silver, then the site is
either not old enough or you have not walk over the silver, or that these people did not have silver to lose.
Hard as it is to believe, there were times in our past when Most people did not have silver, because they just did not have that kind of money to carry around with them....
So you find what people lost, and that's that....

 

[bazinga]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

From experience, if I am getting silver at a spot and too many wheats, then I will stop digging the wheats and focus on the silver. Sure, I can miss some silver doing this, but I get more this way. Some spots are so easy to cherry pick with an Explorer it's not even fair to others. I would rather dig 10 silver than dig 50 wheats in a day. So if I at 20 wheats and see no end in sight with how many I could get that day, I start to ignore them and focus on what I believe to be silver. I can always go back later and pick out the wheats and hope there is still some silver left.

 

[mlayers]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

Digging that many wheats you may be lucky enough to find a key date. It has happen before......Matt

 

[cntrydncr1]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

guaranteed there is silver there. you will find it.

 

[kayden]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

Remember the older site is the more chances they have lost silver through the years...Do some research & look for around the early 1900s to detect.....Its still there you just gotta find it!

 

[Cool Hand Fluke]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

I've done the exact same thing 10 dozen times at similar sites. Just keep pounding it! I'd be willing to bet that there is mutible silver coins buried there, the coil just has to go over it!

 

[TheRockDoc]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

Hey Tom Bigbee... I thought I would share my thoughts just to give you some perspective. I had never even held a detector until September of 2011, when I bought my first one, from a dealer on this site, still had never even held one until my etrac arrived at my house. 4 months in, and I am still a novice, but a dedicated one at that. I do not know whether someone has "cherry-picked" that elementary or not, but what I can guarantee is this: If someone who had an etrac/comparable detector wanted to go through there and cherry pick that place for silver, there would be very little silver left for the next guy. In 4 months of detecting, I can determine the target before I dig: dime about 99.9% of the time. Zinc penny: about 99% of the time. Copper penny (not wheat) about 80% of the time. For some reason (based on my expirience), a wheat penny will usually sound more like a dime/other coin than just a normal copper cent. I have asked a couple MD veterans about this, and they say that with time it becomes possible to determine a wheat cent/dime/copper cent/ indian head cent etc..... before you dig, MOST OF THE TIME. You already know there are many variables that will affect numbers/tones/etc... One thing that was a little bit of a surprise to me though, (I learned this maybe a month ago) is that a silver dime, sounds the same as a clad dime, same w/a quarter, so on and so fourth. ... If that is true with other machines as well, (Someone please chime in and tell us if it is not true please) then I would assume that if someone has cherry picked your site, you would be finding alot less clad dimes/quarters/etc.... As they would have grabbed those up in hopes that they could be silver. Again, just my thoughts, coming from a newbie. If I were you, I would find an older school, as so many above have mentioned, your chances of finding silver in a school built in the early 60's are not very great. I am getting the feeling that MORE then half the battle to finding silver isnt your machine, or your hearing/swing speed/attention span etc..... It seems to me if you have a metal detector, and you go where there is a high probability chance of there being old coins in the ground, you will more than likely find them if you put your coil over them. With that said, it certainly helps to have a higher end machine for all the variables, such as (but not limited too): deep coins, coins next to/above/below iron, coins on there side, coins that were mangled/bent/destroyed etc......

Anyways, happy hunting.


Chris .

 

[illinidigger]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

If it were hunted a while ago and the coins were shallow it could have been cherry picked but Id say silver is still there. I hunt with an Explorer SE and in good dirt, Id say I could pick silver dimes from wheats and clad dimes at less than 7" with a high rate of accuracy. Most silver dimes I dig, I know I am digging a silver dime unless deep signals in parks or trashy sites. I doubt that has been done there, I have dug 20+ wheats without a silver alot of times.

 

[TORRERO]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

Years ago I used to figure the average was 10 wheats to one silver dime, and 10 - 15 silver dimes to
one silver quarter. So if you've dug 20 wheats your about 10 over due for a silver dime, but
the numbers never come out like that of course....
I've stepped into an old place and dug a silver dime, and no wheats...
Or like you, all wheats and no silver...
It's just the thing.
I know that under the best of conditions, using a DFX or Eagle Spectrum or XLT...
a silver dime will read #82 and a clad dime will read #79, also a silver quarter will read #88
and a clad will read #85
So in theiry I could cherry pic also, but the reality is that these numbers really are not that consistant
with targets in the ground and I would never pass over a #79 hoping it was not silver, no, I dig all high numbers because I have found silver as low as #75 or 76 and wheats as high as #80 or 81...
and you just don't know, so I believe that there has always been some cherry picking, but the truth is
if your getting that many wheats, then most of the high targets are still there.

 

[Tom Bigbee]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

Rock Doc, illinidigger, TORRERO... You guys actually answered my main question... Can you tell the difference between clad or silver with these new machines by the numbers that pop up on the screen... I read all of your replies carefully and I now know the answer. I found 6 clad quarters and 21 clad dimes, most in the 4'' to 6'' range. If this place has been picked over I don't think I would have found that much. I know the deeper the coin is the more unreliable the numbers are on the screen machines....( I believe that is correct ). Odd thing is in the early nineties I searched another elementary school built in 1959 and found 25 silvers in a couple of weeks with my Silver Sabre. I remember the first coin I dug there was a '42 merc right under the monkey bars. Boy that was fun! I expected to have the same results at the other school. Very strange, very strange indeed... I definitely need to find some older sites! Thanks for all the info and Good Hunting to you all.

 

[justanotherbarber]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

I would rather dig 10 silver than dig 50 wheats in a day.

I understand where you are coming from with this but when you leave wheats behind you miss the possibility of great finds. I thought about leaving wheats but decided against it. Then one day I got permission to detect a private yard and my avitar says the rest. Also found a 14-D too.

HH

 

[tmanfromtexas]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

I use an etrac and I dig just about every wheatie signal. I have had MANY barber dimes that were iffy. They really didnt sound like a dime but were deep. My first barber was at a park at about 5 inches deep. The number on the etrac was a steady 9-43. It was a 1906. Last Saturday, I was hitting my Barber Park and at the end of the day, I got a solid 12/41, and I mean SOLID, it didnt waver at all at 5 inches or so. I was tired, I didnt want to dig another wheatie because I had a pocket full, but when the silver disk popped up, I was happy. I was very happy to see it was a worn seated dime.
As far as your school yard is concerned. I hunted a school in Gary Indiana that was built in 1959. I hit the little courtyard off and on for over a year and never found a silver with my ACE 250. I upgraded to the etrac and the first time there hitting the same spot I got a silver rosie at 5 inches. The only one I ever found there. Was the angle I hit it at, was it the detector or was it the mding gods smiling at me. I dont know but somtimes silver just isnt there. TMAN...

 

[bazinga]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

I would rather dig 10 silver than dig 50 wheats in a day.

I understand where you are coming from with this but when you leave wheats behind you miss the possibility of great finds. I thought about leaving wheats but decided against it. Then one day I got permission to detect a private yard and my avitar says the rest. Also found a 14-D too.

HH

I could also dig every trash target in hopes of getting gold. But I don't. Digging silver is what I enjoy the most and is the easiest form of detecting for me. I've dug around 500 wheats a year for the past 4-6 years or so. I don't even look at the dates anymore. I just toss them in a big tub and someday I'll check them when I'm really bored. It's not so much that I don't dig wheats, but if it's a new site that could be loaded, I am going to cherry pick the silver first as best I can and come back for the wheats / coin spills later. And even while doing this I still get about 20 wheats per day of detecting.

My only key / semi-key dates have come with silver halves and quarters oddly enough.

 

[George (MN)]

Re: 22 wheats and no silver?

There are a few schools of thought on this. There are places where only kids play & some towns the average income is low & adults even might look for a coin they dropped.

Active sports will help coin spillage. Is there a concessions stand? Does the school have vending machines? Helps alot if people come out of school with a purchase.

If there is nothing to spend money on there, people might not bring any.

It might seem odd to some, detecting a 1960 school when most towns in your area date to the 1800s. But I have a similar situation here, in a post-1960 suburb with 1800s central cities & some old suburbs. I found eleven silvers in a 1963 park & 3 silvers in a 1964 park. I don't drive so have hard time geting to older places & many of those have high crime.

I detected a square block park in a small Wisconsin town, got 16 wheats in an hour but no silver. Moved on to the Main Street green where they had band concerts. More wheats, still no silver.

It was 1970 or 1971 when dealers started paying 10% over face for silver, so it circulated until then.

As for various towns in your area, not every town created a park right away, but most had to establish a school within a few years. The original city plat (survey) may have established a school block. The newer school could be on the site of old playground, current playground on site of old school.

If this is the case, best results could be around the edges of the block.

The older parks will have been detected alot by people who do research, have expensive detectors & have learned then well. But if they missed anything, you might get your best find.

Reseach sites www.maphistory.info www.hometownlocator.com, or type in your county to search engine followed by historical society or use the genealogy sites like cyndislist.com County or city websites may provide useful info. Many site ideas on Wikipedia. Best wishes, George (MN)