Silver tips?

Mobius1

Full Member
Sep 10, 2013
120
85
Orange, California
Detector(s) used
Minelab X-Terra 305 (two years experience)
E-trac (currently learning)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
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fella

Bronze Member
Oct 24, 2012
1,805
853
Wisc
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
1) Passing the coil over silver.
2) Repeat step one.
 

Ism

Hero Member
Jun 17, 2009
637
202
Michigan
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Vaquero
Whites TDI
Minelab Sovereign GT
XP Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
A lot of us have had silver dry spells. I searched an area full of trash (deconstruction debris, foil, pull tabs...etc), every year I remove a little bit more trash from the area.
In the process I've removed more than 25 silver dimes. I have also found silver where I least expected. Search where you haven't been searching.
For example; Sometimes people get stuck searching one area of a park because they found a couple old coins in that location.
Try the extremities or areas you would least expect to find silver. Sometimes those are the areas overlooked or not hunted hard by others in the hobby.
Good luck!
 

RobRieman

Silver Member
Nov 12, 2012
3,282
1,915
Cincinnati Ohio
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
White's V3i / Minelab E-trac
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
My silver finds come when I least expect them. I have researched and hunted many sites where the silver should have been and didn't find squat, or someone else already had. Lol it shows up in the damnest places and catches me off guard many times. It's a great surprise though when you flip the plug and the coin looks like the day it hit the ground.
 

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Mobius1

Mobius1

Full Member
Sep 10, 2013
120
85
Orange, California
Detector(s) used
Minelab X-Terra 305 (two years experience)
E-trac (currently learning)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks you guys, this will really help. I'll try and go out this weekend and search a spot that I think hasn't been hunted before. Somewhere off in the boonies and isolated, hopefully this will result in at least one old coin and possibly silver! :)
 

Sapper724

Sr. Member
May 28, 2013
425
184
Northwestern WI
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT PRO (Current)
Minelab Etrac (Current)
Garrett Pro Pointer
Sampson 31" Digger

Fisher F2 (RIP)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
It's a combination of many things. Research, finding spots that haven't been searched before, will greatly improve your odds. I'm no expert, I have only been detecting about 4-5 months, and it took me a while to find the shiny stuff.

My best advice if you want to find a silver coin sooner. If you can make nice clean plugs, and the soil is nice and damp, take a drive this weekend. Look for older houses having garage sales. When you find one, look around for a minute, then speak to the owner. Tell them you do metal detecting, and they have a very nice house-property. Ask them if they have ever had someone detect it, and that if it's old, there's probably some interesting stuff under the grass. Sometimes they think its the coolest thing ever, and sometimes they just say no. Don't get discouraged. It's between you and them what happens to what you find though.

Old city houses have old coins. Concentrate along sidewalks, front and back doors, driveways, etc.

I hope this works for you. I can't imagine what it'd be like not finding a single silver for 2 years. Even if you're not too sociable like I am most of the time (anxiety), garage sales are a great ice breaker, especially if the house is owned by a sweet old lady...

Good luck, now go find some silver!

-Ron
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Sapper give some good advice above. So what you've been doing ain't working so you need a whole new plan. When you drive down the rode and see spots that look good they looked good to many before you also. Any relatives with old houses or coworkers. Sapper is right with yard sales because people are already outside and easier to approach if they are already outside and you don't knock on there door, I will but I'd rather catch them outside .
 

mercury1

Bronze Member
Mar 9, 2012
1,649
533
New York
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250, AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Great advice Sapper. I started detecting this summer and no silver yet. I've come to think asking permission is what's going to lead me to silver. Haven't done it yet but I'm going to. It's not that big a deal to me because I find lots of silver CRH but I am looking forward to popping out a nice shinny coin from the ground some day. Hopefully a barber.
 

Jason in Enid

Gold Member
Oct 10, 2009
9,593
9,229
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
In order to dig silver, you have to be where silver was lost. The coins disappeared from circulation VERY quickly after they stopped minting them in 1965. So you have to be in some place older. But people aren't losing hundreds of coins a year, it's probably closer to losing a few a year, and most of those would have been pennies. So..... You have to be someplace much older than 1964, I prefer sites from the 1940s or older. Next, like I said before, people don't lose much so you need a place with as many people as possible. Parks, fairgrounds, picnic sites, public celebrations are the types of sites you need to find. The problem NOW is that every other hunter can see the same parks you see. EVERYONE hits the obvious spots, over and over and over.

Go camp out in a library for a while. Read your local history books, memorize every early map, read the old newpapers. Find the old spots that aren't obvious today, or the not-so-obvious areas of the obvious sites.

Oh, and hunt every construction site you can!!!
 

NCcoinDigger

Jr. Member
Jul 2, 2013
57
31
North Carolina
Detector(s) used
White's DFX 300 - Stock 12", 6x10 DD, 5.3 Concentric
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My first silver was in the least expected place to find it and it was a 1945 merc! It was right beside the driveway of a newly built home and a few inches down. Just goes to show you that you never know when to expect silver. I've been to old home sites and only pulled out current coins
 

Sapper724

Sr. Member
May 28, 2013
425
184
Northwestern WI
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT PRO (Current)
Minelab Etrac (Current)
Garrett Pro Pointer
Sampson 31" Digger

Fisher F2 (RIP)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
My first silver was in the least expected place to find it and it was a 1945 merc! It was right beside the driveway of a newly built home and a few inches down. Just goes to show you that you never know when to expect silver. I've been to old home sites and only pulled out current coins


That makes sense though! One of my first honey holes was a newer built area that nobody goes to anymore. It's just a city lot that's empty. I never imagined id find anything good, but then I hit wheats, and then a silver. You really never know, you can find stuff in the craziest places.

Happy Hunting!
 

Sapper724

Sr. Member
May 28, 2013
425
184
Northwestern WI
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT PRO (Current)
Minelab Etrac (Current)
Garrett Pro Pointer
Sampson 31" Digger

Fisher F2 (RIP)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Hunting "in the isolated boonies" will not guarantee you any better luck. What you have to do is identify an area that has seen heavy traffic and is very old. I use my county's GIS website where I can find an area suitable for metal detecting, then overlay aerial shots from 1940s. Some parks I thought would be great because of heavy traffic turned out to be nothing but woods in the 40s-60s ... needless to say chances of silver there are much lower.

Where are you located? If your county has a GIS website I could spend some time looking for spots for you.

FYI, I have had my AT Pro for almost two months now and I have 17 silver coins and 3 silver jewelry pieces.

Excellent advice, and gotta love the AT Pro!
 

Keppy

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
8,318
2,870
N.E. Ohio on lake Erie
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** WHAT ONE I FEEL LIKE ON HUNTING DAY *****
Primary Interest:
Other
th.jpeg Don't feel bad about not finding Silver ..... They have not made silver coins since 1964 .... And with so many out there swinging detectors now a days .... There is not much silver left out there to be found..........
 

Last edited:
Apr 3, 2008
10
9
Stue, go to a park, home, or areas older than 1964. Hunt around and under all the bushes. Hunt around the large trees where people rested in the shade after a picnic. Look up where the fair was before 1964. Look for old school houses and churches. Look for old abandoned houses. These places I have found lots of silver coins. If you do this I guarantee you will find old silver. Good luck and Good Hunting, Don
 

rainyday101

Hero Member
Dec 1, 2012
779
346
Peshtigo, Wisconsin
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Tejon, Tesoro Silver uMax, Tesoro Tiger Shark
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
If you go to an older park that has more than likely been detected before, look for the trashiest area with pulltabs. The silver coins are there and masked by the trash. Plan one- get a detector that has amazing target separation and super fast recovery speed. Opinions on which detector that may be vary greatly. My silver comes from trashy areas. Slow way down, overlap all passes and pick the coins from the trash. Patience is the key. Plan two- Again find a trashy area with pulltabs and remove all trash until coins are unmasked.

I rely on plan one. Will be trying plan two in small 4 x 4 areas at select locations where I have pulled a silver or two out the trash.
 

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Mobius1

Mobius1

Full Member
Sep 10, 2013
120
85
Orange, California
Detector(s) used
Minelab X-Terra 305 (two years experience)
E-trac (currently learning)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Hunting "in the isolated boonies" will not guarantee you any better luck. What you have to do is identify an area that has seen heavy traffic and is very old. I use my county's GIS website where I can find an area suitable for metal detecting, then overlay aerial shots from 1940s. Some parks I thought would be great because of heavy traffic turned out to be nothing but woods in the 40s-60s ... needless to say chances of silver there are much lower.

Where are you located? If your county has a GIS website I could spend some time looking for spots for you.

FYI, I have had my AT Pro for almost two months now and I have 17 silver coins and 3 silver jewelry pieces.

I live in Orange,CA and I can't seem to find the old parks that I need. Irvine park has been my most successful with a 1914 wheatie, no date buffalo nickel, and a 1940 Jefferson all within the same general area.
 

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