Any Advice for a novice coin shooter ***HELP*****

[Tesorohunter]

Hello Diggers,
I am formally requesting help and advice from experienced hunters of older houses and yards. I have been detecting many 1890's and 1920's houses, but no silver. I don't expect its my machine( Tesoro Vaquero). All i have pulled are two wheat cents and they are almost 60 years older than the house. I need advice on the best areas of the yard that produce silver and finding houses that will actually produce. What are the signs and signals? Where to hunt? How do you decide if this house is going to produce silver? I really love the hobby and am just turning from park hunting to coinshooting and treasure hunting, I would really like some pointers so please help me out.

 

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[villagenut]

Good questions, concentrate on front and rear porch areas, any big trees that were climbing trees once upon a time, where old clotheslines were once strung,sometimes between trees and nearby to the back door generally. There are other spots too but that will get you going. Don't give up, if there's wheat then there is liable to be silver too.

 

[Tesorohunter]

Thank you so much I'm just gonna keep going until i hit silver

 

[bigfoot1]

my expierience is that everything comes in waves.I may go awhile without silver or gold then bam I get on a roll then just as quickly I hit drought.the real trick is to hunt right through the dry times.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Think about where folks may have dug into their pockets. Front door, driveway, near the road (kid's lemonade stands, etc.).

But there has to be silver for you to find silver. I've found 11¢ at my current house. Clad dime and a Lincoln cent. Apparently just never had folks who lost change as owners and it was pasture (or woods) during the silver era.

For silver you want pre-1960 homes. Search around the larger trees (swings, shade, clothes-lines). Around the edges of foundations or old fences (especially stone walls). Path to the privy site, perhaps.

Keep plugging

 

[airscapes]

All the silver I have found in private homes (only 3) has been under a tree where they sat to stay cool in summer and next to where they parked the car. Also if you have a blanket or iron nails, you are not going to see anything that is below it.

 

[Slingshot]

Wherever people get into and out of their vehicles seems to be my best spot on average, along the edge of the street seems to always be good too. If you have long term permission to hunt these yards you should grid them out into 10 x 10 foot sections, start in a corner and work your way through. It might take a few days per yard, but that is the best way to learn this craft. Yards are different just like the people who occupied the homes and some will produce better in the back than the front, just depends, and you can never tell until you've hunted the entire area. Those really good finds tend to be in an area you wouldn't think anything much will turn up. Cheers!!

 

[Slingshot]

All the silver I have found in private homes (only 3) has been under a tree where they sat to stay cool in summer and next to where they parked the car. Also if you have a blanket or iron nails, you are not going to see anything that is below it.

That is why every coinshooter needs an old TR machine as a special duty backup to their VLF, they will out hunt a VLF in those nail beds 10-1, you just won't get the depth you are accustomed to, but you will recover a lot more coins in steel trash areas that you otherwise wouldn't get at all. I just swap machines when I get into a spot with a nail blanket and pop out a few coins. The TR's with discriminate capabilities are very inexpensive, $5 - $30 for a stable working unit, and you don't need a Compass 77B, even though they were probably the best at seeing through iron and probably got better depth than most the older TR units. Cheers!!

 

[WhiteTornado]

If any of these properties have a depressed area and you notice wildflowers growing in it, that may have been where the outhouse used to be. Those are typically great places to hunt, so I'd scope that out for sure. The other advice given here is good, too. If the house on the property is original, take some time and imagine how you would go about your business if you lived there. Where would you likely park? If it's back to the age of using horses, where were they and/or a wagon kept? Some older homes have a formal front door that doesn't get used much, and the occupants often come and go through a side or back door. I grew up in a house like that. We used the back door the most because the driveway wound around to the back of the house.

Keep trying, and happy hunting!

 

[dirtscratcher]

My son just rented a house from the 30s. I hunted all around the house and found a bunch of wheats and afew interesting tidbits. After hitti,g all the hotspots I ventured far from the house to a little strip that looked like the last place you would expect coins and found two silver quarters and a merc . All I'm getting at is sure hit the obvious spots but hit it all .
.

 

[Tesorohunter]

How deep do you guys, on average, dig coins on late 1890's and early 1900's homes?

 

[atomicscott]

How deep do you guys, on average, dig coins on late 1890's and early 1900's homes?

I have not found coins at any more than 6" at old home sites. The one & only IH penny I found was only about 4" deep.

 

[BadM0nkey]

Sounds about right for East Coast.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I've had hits as deep as 10" but most coins I find are 4" to 6". That includes IHC and Barbers. I do best at town commons and parks. Look at old maps of your community and see what was and still is a park area. Go to your historical society (or town/coity/county website) and look at the old photographs. Fairs, carnivals, circuses - where they were is prime coin shooting turf.

Problem can be people like to play in dirt and there is always grading (or erosion) and filling that puts coins all over the strata.

 

[Slingshot]

Old coins can be on the surface on down, so if it's a good signal you better investigate no matter the depth.

 

[streetshark1966]

is the houses in town or in the country? how deep was your wheats? think of it as hunted hard so look at the lay out of the land and hit the spots that would be a pain to hunt because most people wont hunt those spots.

 

[cudamark]

How deep do you guys, on average, dig coins on late 1890's and early 1900's homes?

Could be at any depth. Type of soil, amount of rain/irrigation, degree of relandscaping that's been done, etc, all play a part in where the targets will end up. Start digging targets and you'll be able to determine that in short order.

 

[atomicscott]

Could be at any depth. Type of soil, amount of rain/irrigation, degree of relandscaping that's been done, etc, all play a part in where the targets will end up. Start digging targets and you'll be able to determine that in short order.

Very true! I have dug 1800's-early 1900's coins at 6" or less at old home sites, but I have dug modern dimes at 10" plus in schools/parks.

 

[Garrett424]

Very true! I have dug 1800's-early 1900's coins at 6" or less at old home sites, but I have dug modern dimes at 10" plus in schools/parks.

Yup. My first IH was right below the surface. My first silver Rosey was about 9 inches down in red clay under sand.

You never know where anything may pop up.
The bottom line is, treasure is wherever it is. It can be anywhere; deep, shallow, in likely places or in the least likely places. That's why we have to hunt for it.

Also, make sure you TAKE YOUR TIME. Go slow and listen VERY closely. If the goodies are deep, you can swing right over and miss them if you rush it.

I dug a very little junk "silver" and red heart pendant tonight at an old fishing hole. It rang high but before I actually started digging it, the tone was barely audible because it was at least 9-10 inches deep. I think the fact that it's been raining all week and the sand was good and wet enabled me to pick it up. Had I hurried I definitely would have missed it.

So yeah, take your time and listen closely wherever you hunt.

 

[Loco-Digger]

I pulled an 1855 LC at about 7" from a house built in that time frame and a clad quarter at 8" on a lot where they did extensive rehab on house built in the latter 1800s . Most of the silver coins from the 1900s have been 4-6 inches, depending on the soil conditions.