Silver quarters hard to find

Jason in Enid

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They are big and give loud signals so they are easy for even poor detectors to find. There is almost zero virgin ground left, so it becomes very hard to find them. I have always told people, if you are digging silver quarters at a spot you need to hunt it hard, thorough and multiple times because others haven't and it's most likely still holding plenty of goods.
 

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Loco-Digger

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I found over 800 quarters in 2014, only found 1 silver quarter. If you want to better your odds, get permissions on older private properties.
 

slink

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I think also there was just not as many lost to begin with.While still being minted a quarter was a worth alot more than they are today.You could actually buy multiple useful and needed items with 1 quarter.Also being larger ,heavier coins they were not as easy to lose as say a dime.

In the 1950's & 60's a quarter was useful so imagine what purchasing power that same coin had in the 1800's.
 

Slingshot

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The bigger coins, quarters and halves, were easy targets for even the most unsophisticated detectors long ago, so the majority have been recovered from places that are easily accessable to detectorists, like old parks and school grounds. I'm sure some are still hiding in these places, camouflaged by trash targets, but you will have to expand what you dig to retrieve them. You will be rewarded by hunting older yards that haven't been hunted yet. So you will have to polish up your permission getting skills to gain access to these places, as there are plenty of old silver quarters just waiting for you to find them, and halves too. Cheers!!
 

RobRieman

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I think also there was just not as many lost to begin with.While still being minted a quarter was a worth alot more than they are today.You could actually buy multiple useful and needed items with 1 quarter.Also being larger ,heavier coins they were not as easy to lose as say a dime.

In the 1950's & 60's a quarter was useful so imagine what purchasing power that same coin had in the 1800's.

A quarter was worth $3.43 in 1800 compared to its worth in 2014.
 

ToddB64

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Jason in Enid

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A quarter was worth $3.43 in 1800 compared to its worth in 2014.

This isn't correct. The combined inflation rate since the year 1890 is 25x. That means that quarter back then would be closer to $6.25. While that may not seem like a big difference to us, it almost double the value. You also have to look at average wages. A common laborer worked 6 days a week to earn about $10 or about $1.66 a day. So that quarter was worth quite a bit of his daily wage. Just to compare that to today, that would be a minimum wage earner working 60 hours (the hours worked in 1890) for $435 or about $72 a day. That earned quarter in 1890 is equal to the minimum wager earning $10 today.
 

RobRieman

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This isn't correct. The combined inflation rate since the year 1890 is 25x. That means that quarter back then would be closer to $6.25. While that may not seem like a big difference to us, it almost double the value. You also have to look at average wages. A common laborer worked 6 days a week to earn about $10 or about $1.66 a day. So that quarter was worth quite a bit of his daily wage. Just to compare that to today, that would be a minimum wage earner working 60 hours (the hours worked in 1890) for $435 or about $72 a day. That earned quarter in 1890 is equal to the minimum wager earning $10 today.


What cost $.25 in 1800 would cost $3.43 in 2014.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2014 and 1800,
they would cost you $.25 and $0.02 respectively.


I didn't come up with the numbers, they came from here:

Source: The pre-1975 data are the Consumer Price Index statistics from Historical Statistics of the United States (USGPO, 1975). All data since then are from the annual Statistical Abstracts of the United States.
 

Charlie P. (NY)

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BryanM362

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I think also there was just not as many lost to begin with.While still being minted a quarter was a worth alot more than they are today.You could actually buy multiple useful and needed items with 1 quarter.Also being larger ,heavier coins they were not as easy to lose as say a dime.

In the 1950's & 60's a quarter was useful so imagine what purchasing power that same coin had in the 1800's.

That's what I was going to say. A quarter is a lot easier to see on the ground than a dime, when lost.
 

Cool Hand Fluke

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After all these years in the hobby I've discovered that you have to find 10 silver dimes to find one silver quarter, this is the average. I've also noticed that your average will go up with experience.
When I first started I might find one per year. Now I am averaging about 8 or 9 a year. Just keep plugging away, they will show up.
 

Silver Simon

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I've found more than 100 clad quarters but no silver quarters. Why are silver quarters so hard to find???? :icon_scratch:

My most common silver in public areas is a deep dime. The size and depth cause it to remain hidden from most detectors, but my Deus sniffs them out with ease.
 

Diggin-N-Dumps

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My first year of detecting, I was pretty much ONLY finding Silver Quarters and even a Half dollar with my ACE 250...Now Im lucky if I find 2 of them a year with my ATP.

I really think its because places have been cherry picked in the past. My first couple years when i used my ACE, my hunting buddy had an Etrac, and he couldnt belive how many quarters I was finding...In one month alone it was around 6 or 7.

But I think it was because I could move really quick and cover more area..Plus Luck had a little to do with it.

But yea..I agree...I dont see alot of them like I used too...just a couple years ago..lol
 

K1DDO1979

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They are big and give loud signals so they are easy for even poor detectors to find. There is almost zero virgin ground left, so it becomes very hard to find them. I have always told people, if you are digging silver quarters at a spot you need to hunt it hard, thorough and multiple times because others haven't and it's most likely still holding plenty of goods.

That's why I'm glad sometimes I live up here in Nova Scotia. Virgin ground is everywhere you turn. More places to hunt and stuff to find than I would ever have the time for. It's no problem to pick a spot and at least get a 1950's or 60's silver coin a lot of the time. Lots of older silver here to find too but defiantly a little more work. With all this snow and ice no silver now though. [emoji3]
 

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Very interesting thread!
 

Jason in Enid

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That's why I'm glad sometimes I live up here in Nova Scotia. Virgin ground is everywhere you turn. More places to hunt and stuff to find than I would ever have the time for. It's no problem to pick a spot and at least get a 1950's or 60's silver coin a lot of the time. Lots of older silver here to find too but defiantly a little more work. With all this snow and ice no silver now though. [emoji3]

I would be jealous if you didn't have all that white stuff to deal with! You can keep the winter weather up there as far as I'm concerned. :laughing7:
 

K1DDO1979

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I would be jealous if you didn't have all that white stuff to deal with! You can keep the winter weather up there as far as I'm concerned. :laughing7:

This winter is killer. No end in sight. It will probably be April at this rate till the ground thaws. I got out over the winter last year once in awhile but not once since the big freeze hit over a month ago.
 

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