Silver VS. Clad

[atomicscott]

Hi Everybody!
Bear with me, they say the only dumb questions are the ones you don't ask! Hoping to get some info on this one. Say I'm at an old school that was built in the 1940's. I'm finding clad dimes and quarters at 6-7". Hypothetically, if there were silver dimes at this same school at similar depths as the clad dimes & quarters I was finding, would there be any reason why I wouldn't find the silver dimes just as easily as I would find the clad dimes? I have heard people refer to some detectors as 'clad hogs', etc... Why wouldn't a 'clad hog' pick up silver just as easily as a copper (clad) dime (all conditions being equal)? I have been hitting some old home sites in the past 8 months or so, hoping to find my first silver coin. I have found a few wheats, the oldest being a 1920. I have read that most people tend to find there silver coin within the 5"-7" depth range. I have hit that same site where I found the 1920 quite a few times, but alas, still no silver coins. I tend to think they just AREN'T there. The town I live in is sparsely populated (pop. 5000) and there is only one old park (built in 1921) within a 30 minute drive. The only other large park was built in the early 1970's. The parks have all been hammered hard out here by a detecting club, so I have been finding old houses on farm fields, that are now just empty lots. Since there are usually very little remnants left of the house, I usually start at the biggest shadiest trees, then basically work from the trees, toward where I believe the house/buildings used to be. I'm not having much luck, and getting frustrated. I've actually been skunked many times, or I find some items that I can sometimes use to date the area, but it sure would be great to find that first silver coin. Any info or suggestions would be a great help. Thanks so much. Scott

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Hi Scott.

Yes: a silver dime and a clad dime, at the same depth, would give similar signals. In fact, very much the same (with a teeeensssy little bit of TID/cursor and/or tone difference, although its extremely close when at deeper depths). This is because the silver dime and clad dimes TID (and the size and shape) are very close. Hence yes, the signal strength is the same. On the whites scale, for instance, a clad dime is about 79, while the silver dime is about 81 or 82. Only a hair difference.

If you say that the park you're working has clad at up to 7" .... then I'd say that's a bad sign. Because un-disturbed turf is often stratified (the older the coin, the deeper it is). Therefore, it stands to reason that the silver is going to be beyond that (8" or more). It's entirely possible that there's a bottom, beyond which coins don't sink. I've seen parks like that before, because of a change to a clay layer at a certain point down. Each park/turf has its own "norms". In some parks, I can expect silver starting at 4 or 5". While at others, the bench mark seems to be 6". And there's one I hunt sometimes where the silver doesn't start till nearly 9"! I just go there to goof off and test my skills at whispers. Man talk about a drag getting 1959 and 1960 memorials at insane depths. But .... then a '59 or '60 roosie pops up at those same depths

All in all, sounds like that is not a park to hunt for silver, if you ask me.

 

[atomicscott]

Hi Scott.

Yes: a silver dime and a clad dime, at the same depth, would give similar signals. In fact, very much the same (with a teeeensssy little bit of TID/cursor and/or tone difference, although its extremely close when at deeper depths). This is because the silver dime and clad dimes TID (and the size and shape) are very close. Hence yes, the signal strength is the same. On the whites scale, for instance, a clad dime is about 79, while the silver dime is about 81 or 82. Only a hair difference.

If you say that the park you're working has clad at up to 7" .... then I'd say that's a bad sign. Because un-disturbed turf is often stratified (the older the coin, the deeper it is). Therefore, it stands to reason that the silver is going to be beyond that (8" or more). It's entirely possible that there's a bottom, beyond which coins don't sink. I've seen parks like that before, because of a change to a clay layer at a certain point down. Each park/turf has its own "norms". In some parks, I can expect silver starting at 4 or 5". While at others, the bench mark seems to be 6". And there's one I hunt sometimes where the silver doesn't start till nearly 9"! I just go there to goof off and test my skills at whispers. Man talk about a drag getting 1959 and 1960 memorials at insane depths. But .... then a '59 or '60 roosie pops up at those same depths

All in all, sounds like that is not a park to hunt for silver, if you ask me.

Thanks so much for the response, Tom. You are always helpful with great info. Actually the school I mentioned was only a hypothetical scenario. I was hoping to find out if for some reason, silver coins and clad did happen to be at similar depths, would the silver be somehow 'harder' to find. I really believe the old homesites I'm hitting may have been detected heavily before, or just don't have any silver coins there to be found. Thanks again. HH

 

[JunkShopFiddler]

Hey Mr. Atom, I also live in an area that is small towns without a lot of old settlements or rich histories. I have been unemployed for almost a year and have had the time to pound away at my favorite sites with the detector. Yet after many hours a week for months I have only a few silver coins to show for all this time in the field! (don't have this gas money for a long drive to new spots). You can't dig silver if it isn't there. Tom in Ca nailed it, if the clad is deep, silver is deeper ...One thing I haven't seen discussed (during my time on T-net at least) is the fact that as well as being deeper, silver has been in the ground longer, which gives it more chance to be masked by more layers of dropped trash and stuff. I don't know if this makes sense, but I know the longer one stands in the field looking up with their mouth open the greater the chance the wrong bird will fly by! Moral of such a metaphor? I kinda' forgot already, but it had something to do with digging up all the iffy signals will produce more good finds. Best advice on finding silver..just keep diggin, cause ya never know!

 

[dirtscratcher]

Your right if it aint there you can't find it. Try knocking on doors in oldest part of town. Finding yards that have not been detected before is worth any apprehension of asking.