First silver coins EVER!!!

[Silverslug]

Some of you guys pull silver out of the ground almost every day. But I live in a city (Las Vegas), where almost nothing is old. (Las Vegas is a city of two million, but in 1960, it was a city of only about 20,000). I started metal detecting in April 2014. After a while, just pulling tons of clad out of the ground starts to get old. A few weeks ago I actually started to get serious about finding some silver coinage. Today I went to the 'hood and found an abandoned house built in 1955 (ancient by Las Vegas standards) and detected the back yard. I detected the entire back yard, then cut across the yard on the way back to my car. The Garrett Ace 250 gave a half dollar signal and I dug up the Washington quarter (1953-S) in a spot I'd already gone over. I tried the side of the house, then headed back toward my car again and saw the Roosevelt (1955-D) lying on top of the ground right before I swept my detector over it--again in a spot I'd already detected.
Last week I did another old house (built in 1952). I pulled out ten wheat pennies, but no silver. In this yard, I found only one wheat, but managed the two silvers. Doesn't seem to make sense, but oh, well. I'm happy to have FINALLY found silver.

 

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[RJ55]

congratulations on your first silver .

 

[BigWaveDave]

good job by you!!

 

[I C THE LITE]

Congrats on breaking into the silver. I visit my daughter and grandchildren in Vegas twice a year for the past 10 years. I detect almost every day that I am there and I have never found silver other than jewelry. I guess my problem is I don't go into the hood (I don't know where the hood is). I will be coming to Vegas on the 23rd of Dec and if you are looking for some company send me a pm cuz I love digging silver. Once again congrats on your finds.

 

[CoilyGirl]

Congrats!

 

[Old Dude]

You should check out Rayrayvegas's posts. He finds silver frequently there in Vegas. Don't give up hope and keep up the effort.

 

[jewelerguy]

You should check out Rayrayvegas's posts. He finds silver frequently there in Vegas. Don't give up hope and keep up the effort.

yes, Ray makes some pretty awesome finds there. maybe you can hook up with him and get together for a hunt. congrats on the silvers!

 

[cjon455]

Great first silvers!, yes as olddude said, check out rayrayvegas's posts, he always seems to find the hotspots, keep it up they're out there!!

 

[Doc Arey]

Won't be the last

 

[Silverslug]

Great tip. Thanks for the heads up. I'm sure I can learn a ton from RayRayVegas' posts.

 

[beez0404]

Some of you guys pull silver out of the ground almost every day. But I live in a city (Las Vegas), where almost nothing is old. (Las Vegas is a city of two million, but in 1960, it was a city of only about 20,000). I started metal detecting in April 2014. After a while, just pulling tons of clad out of the ground starts to get old. A few weeks ago I actually started to get serious about finding some silver coinage. Today I went to the 'hood and found an abandoned house built in 1955 (ancient by Las Vegas standards) and detected the back yard. I detected the entire back yard, then cut across the yard on the way back to my car. The Garrett Ace 250 gave a half dollar signal and I dug up the Washington quarter (1953-S) in a spot I'd already gone over. I tried the side of the house, then headed back toward my car again and saw the Roosevelt (1955-D) lying on top of the ground right before I swept my detector over it--again in a spot I'd already detected.
Last week I did another old house (built in 1952). I pulled out ten wheat pennies, but no silver. In this yard, I found only one wheat, but managed the two silvers. Doesn't seem to make sense, but oh, well. I'm happy to have FINALLY found silver.
View attachment 1087760

The key to metal detecting is research. As you well know in order to find silver coins you have to be swinging your coil over soil with enough history and activity to potentially have silver coins. When I first started MDing in January of this year I tried to hunt the oldest places I could find. And all I found was trash with maybe a little clad here and there. It wasn't until I started looking for houses built in the late 40s thru 1957 that I started finding silver coins.

One thing I know about Las Vegas is that the Hoover Dam is located not too far away. While it was being built some 20,000 people moved into the area looking for a job working on the dam. A huge tent town went up and thousands of men lived there while the work was taking place. It would be interesting to see if you could locate where that tent city was located and see if it's an area you could hunt today.

Congratulations on your first silvers. I clearly remember how exciting that is. Keep at those 1950s houses and knock on some doors for permission too.

 

[g-olden years]

Your persistence paid off with two good silvers! From your description of both silvers emerging as you were headed to your car, I recommend whenever you arrive at a new site you just walk in about 30 feet, turn around and head for your car - silver!!! Have Fun and keep us posted on your future hunts. Andi

 

[Carolina Tom]

Congrats on entering the "Silver Club". A double at that! This is just the beginning. GL&HH.

 

[park pirate]

Congrats on your first silvers bud...

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Very nice first silver coins! Congrats!
There'll be more!

 

[Silverslug]

Great advice, Beez. The old pros have been telling me about the importance of research. The advice is sinking in and a little silver has definitely whet my appetite. The opportunities are definitely out there. As for the tent city, that is a great tip. Most likely that would have been out in Boulder City. Definitely something to be investigated. There could be a real Bonanza out there.

 

[hightonehunter]

Congrates. I haven`t been detecting for that long either( about a year and a half )and it took me a year to find my first silver. Everyone on here says it takes ATLEAST 100 hours on your machine to start to really understand it and you can believe it. I have learned to adjust my detector so that I now feel that I'm taking full advantage of its limitations. As others have said , you first must put yourself in a area old enough and then the rest is up to you. One thing you might try is slowing down and make sure your not skipping ground as you walk (gridding the area( will help ). I have to keep telling myself this when I get excited over finds( I'm 6`2" and tend to make too big a stride).........HH.....David

 

[coinman123]

Congrats on finding your first silver, I hope there will be many more to come. Before I started metal detecting I thought that silver would be so easy to find, in fact I was prepared for it. Well, that was not true. In my first week detecting I found a pocket spill of a buff nickel an Au details 1915 d cent and a 1904 dime, that was it for the year. This year I chose to go on the colonial path and I'm not turning back, for I'm horrible at finding newer silver. Congrats, you found, what I think, is a hard thing to find.

Coinman123,

Sent from my mobile phone

 

[qaela4]

Congrats on your first silver. I still haven't found anything but dimes for US silver and only three of those.

 

[Silverslug]

Congrats on your first silver. I still haven't found anything but dimes for US silver and only three of those.

Yea, I'm the king of clad. But I think if I work at it and continue to hit the old houses, I'll manage a few more silvers. I always thought my first silver would be a dime. The 1953 quarter was a real shocker.