CAN'T FIND SILVER!!!

[Trentonfrank]

Hey guys and Gals,
I could use some help or advice. I'm semi new to detecting...about 8 months now but have detected years ago when I was a teen for a short period. Anyway, there is an elementary school in my area that is closed down. It was built in 1962 and closed its doors a few years ago and I doubt it has been detected much, if at all. So I had the bright idea to detect it this weekend figuring I would find a bunch of clad but more importantly I figured I would find at least a few silver dimes and quarters. Well, I did find a bunch of clad, about $9.67 worth but no silver!! In the 8 months I have been using my AT Gold I have found 4 silver Rosie dimes and seated dime and 1 standing lib quarter so I know what silver sounds like with my machine and the VDI #'s...at least I think I do. My question I have is there something I could do with my settings on my machine or does anyone have a silver finding secret they could share? There has to be silver there. Out of all that clad, I found two 1962 pennies a 64 penny, two 1965 quarters and a handful of late 1960 dimes and nickels. For you AT people out there, I set my machine on "Disc1" and my discriminator is around 25. I don't use the "All Metal" mode much because I have to continuously look at the VDI screen but maybe someone has a trick or two. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this and any help is greatly appreciated. Happy hunting!

Frank

 

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[darktower007]

Silver is easier to find than you think. Where is it at? Peoples front and back yards. Look for homes from the 1950s and earlier.These are called permissions.

Very high probability these lawns have never been detected.

Here’s a clue for you. I’ve been hunting since March 1 2017. I’ve found 18 silvers. Guess where 15 of them have been found?

Yup you guessed it permissions.

Dress nicely knocking on doors setting goals to get rejected by 10 homes I went out.

First two homes were a yes and I found these!



Good luck now knock on some doors!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RustyGold]

Good advice dbl07. Backyards for me as that's where most people spend their time and do their thing.

 

[Jason in Enid]

All the easy silver is gone long ago. You are going to have to dig a lot of questionable signals if you are hunting public spots. Not every homesite has silver, and don't put meaning on the dates of clad you dig. There are still 1965 dimes and quarters in circulation today.

As for the age of properties, I don't even consider them unless they are from the 1940s or older. Coins were/are seldom lost, so you need a good amount of time while silver was still circulating and had a chance to be lost.

 

[Argentium]

Don't say "can't find silver" , you have found a Seated Liberty dime ,and a Standing Liberty quarter ! There are lots of longtime detectorists who haven't found those yet - took me 10 years to get the SLQ. and i am still seeking my first Seated Liberty of any kind . I also have yet to find an Indian Head cent ( In PA they find these every time out !) I'm just saying - don't expect to find silvers at the local high school - those guys /gals in the 60's ,70's ,80's and 90's did a decent job of hoovering up the silvers from what i can see . Definitely do not assume that a school grounds hasn't been pounded hard for 4 decades !

 

[HighVDI]

My best silver areas were littered with wheat pennies.

 

[against the wind]

The east coast States were the first areas settled and have the highest populations. More human traffic = more lost coins. It also has a higher level of competition.
Good luck and Happy Hunting

 

[1320]

In the areas that I hunt/have hunted, Schools have given up the least silver.

 

[Tommybuckets]

Yea the only school I found silver at I was tipped off by a fellow detectorist there was silver there. All the dimes were at the 10 inch mark. I did get a seated love token there so that was awesome.
Recently they just excavated it and I didn't find a damn thing so I think someone beat me to it when they had it bulldozed because I saw a number of hole remnants. Lots of competition here.
In my neighborhood if I want silver I knock on the neighbors doors and get a silver out of each yard on average. I am not too much of a knocker but if I get dry enough I will do it. I get a lot of "No". I am a great talker and a bad salesman. I presently have a lifetime of detecting ahead of me; hundreds of acres of farm fields from one chance encounter with the land owner who was in a good mood. I hope it lasts.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Silver is where you find it!

 

[pepperj]

What are the odds of finding something at a park, school, church? It's one of those things that you can hunt and not find anything or hit a little spot where it turns out to be a great spot. Break it down to simple logic, detectors have been on the market now for 55 yrs. So once a year somebody has the same idea as the person before "Ah a school-silver" and this little school has been detected 55 times already. Back in the 70's it was a cake walk for silvers, but the machines weren't as good as what we have today.
It takes a lot of effort to get a silver or two from a public space today-impossible-no, it just takes a little more effort. Hitting the rough where it's hard to detect is a bonus sometimes, and if it was easy it would have been done.
I hunted in a large park heavily for years in the 80's-early 90's. A dealer (detector) commented that the park was hunted out of silvers as he and others just left the coppers and dug only silver signals for years prior of me showing up. I would show him the silver recovered and he couldn't believe it-almost doubted me on where I was hunting. In /08 I returned to the park to hit again, 100+ silvers and 60+ LCs from the 400 acre park so silver hides still in the soils, one just has to think out of the box to get it from the sites today.

 

[scruggs]

Most of my silver comes from the edges of sidewalks and under the old clothes line. Good luck to you! Have patience and hunt as much as you can!

 

[fistfulladirt]

What are the odds of finding something at a park, school, church? It's one of those things that you can hunt and not find anything or hit a little spot where it turns out to be a great spot. Break it down to simple logic, detectors have been on the market now for 55 yrs. So once a year somebody has the same idea as the person before "Ah a school-silver" and this little school has been detected 55 times already. Back in the 70's it was a cake walk for silvers, but the machines weren't as good as what we have today.
It takes a lot of effort to get a silver or two from a public space today-impossible-no, it just takes a little more effort. Hitting the rough where it's hard to detect is a bonus sometimes, and if it was easy it would have been done.
I hunted in a large park heavily for years in the 80's-early 90's. A dealer (detector) commented that the park was hunted out of silvers as he and others just left the coppers and dug only silver signals for years prior of me showing up. I would show him the silver recovered and he couldn't believe it-almost doubted me on where I was hunting. In /08 I returned to the park to hit again, 100+ silvers and 60+ LCs from the 400 acre park so silver hides still in the soils, one just has to think out of the box to get it from the sites today.

I agree heartily with hunting "outside the box".

 

[HighVDI]

Don't say "can't find silver" , you have found a Seated Liberty dime ,and a Standing Liberty quarter ! There are lots of longtime detectorists who haven't found those yet - took me 10 years to get the SLQ. and i am still seeking my first Seated Liberty of any kind . I also have yet to find an Indian Head cent ( In PA they find these every time out !) I'm just saying - don't expect to find silvers at the local high school - those guys /gals in the 60's ,70's ,80's and 90's did a decent job of hoovering up the silvers from what i can see . Definitely do not assume that a school grounds hasn't been pounded hard for 4 decades !

This is a great point. I'd LOVE to find my first seated dime and SLQ! Funny hobby how certain things seem to elude others and vice versa. The not knowing what's in the next plug is what seals the addiction for me.

 

[Trentonfrank]

Just a quick update...I took advice from all you guys and hit "my spot" pretty hard yesterday. Edge of side walks and under trees payed off. Found 2 Merc dimes and silver Rosie, plus 12 more "Wheaties". Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. I love this site!! Happy hunting!

 

[Peyton Manning]

waaaaaahhhhh, you've found more than I have, so stop whining

 

[Peyton Manning]

I have one 1854 dime, one 1964 quarter and three silver rings.
so my next silver coin shout be a 2074 half dollar if the trend holds

 

[smokeythecat]

I don't find much silver, because I'm looking for very old places. Long time ago silver was very scarce. Was Civil War detecting today, and I get this HUH? signal, with nothing on the VDI. My buddy hears it on his machine too, a different brand, again no numbers on the VDI. I go down about 9" and now no signal. So, I ran the pinpointed down the hole and it's in the side. It was a 1945 Washington quarter standing straight up and down in the hole. It's where it is. You never know, but keep going after those old houses. Check around trees and especially under where old clotheslines used to be. Found a silver Canadian quarter doing that a few months ago.