Am i doing something wrong?

[RustyGold]

I believe you'l find more old silver in the backyards of older America than anywhere else! IMHO! All the Parties, Family reunions, Marriages, Graduations and celebrations of every order!
I found a 1941 Silver Mercury Dime with my Grandson, a 1948 Silver Dime and a silver dime that was cut in half! All three found in my backyard! Also found an antique 1-30 14K R.G.P. Ring. Not worth much but interesting!
Best of Luck!

 

[Roger Mn.]

I found a lot of old coins in the woods. In Oronoco,Mn there is a park that has 2 wooded areas and had a dance hall back in the 1920's. Than it was a state park and now a city park now for around 47 years. One hill with woods and weeds I found lots of old coins. I found a buried cola bottle from 1910 with the cap on it while detecting.From what I found there I believe most of the people hang out there. Old spam cans maybe a dozen ,spoons,bottles,many brass lantern parts that had wicks and the knob to turn it up, old broken plates,padlocks,lead bullets,tokens,brass casings,many Indian Head cents and lots of silver coins,Indian head nickles and other things.
Another woods I detected in used to be an old farm site and quarry. I have found lots of silver coin spills. Many coins.I have found traps from trappers,lead bullets,lantern parts. The farmers put up barbed wire and lost a few coins. You might go days without finding a coin and than find a lot of them. Not many like to go detecting in the woods but once your in there it's not so bad. I have found hundreds of coins in the woods and maybe thirty silver coins in the mowed grass.
Here is this years finds from the woods and some of it was hard going and my arms are scratched up. I left out all the wheat cents.

 

[Limitool]

Thanks Caspar! I just really haven't understood why there is no silver or other old coins.

Hello... Got a question for ya. First off I am NOT an expert at all and am still learning to use my machine to its fullest. QUESTION: Are you relying on the numbers produced by your machine to decide what to dig or not to dig? In other words... are you trusting your machine to be "right" before deciding to dig or pass? IF..... if you are I'd stop, dig everything and learn. This is what I'm doing now. And I have learned that the machine is not always "right". And swinging in the woods now may not of been woods 50-100 yrs. ago. Especially along edges of old lawns. Buy buddy you are NOT the only ones who gets flustered..... feel better? YOUR NOT ALONE!!!! Later.... Brad

 

[Sheppie22]

Just keep at it and dig every repeatable signal. The silver will come. I have been at it since 1978 and you do go through some lean times. You just have to do research and find places where people have gathered for many years. I received permission about 3 years ago to hunt a now closed down golf course that dates back to 1936 as a golf course. Before that their were old homesteads on it as I have found several 1800's coins along with 141 silver coins. Be patient, it will come. Picture below is some of the silver from the golf course.

 

[Doug H]

Not to hijack a thread and I'm no expert by far but since we are asking questions here and this may help the OP, but I have a question. To me, this doesn't seem like rocket science. If your swinging a modern day detector across the ground and there's something there then your detector is going to see it. If there's nothing there then it won't. You can't make things appear where there is nothing there. The real talent with the guys who do this seems to me to be in research. The guys who know how to find out where there used to be a place that would be good to hunt and hold treasure's. So my feeling about the OP is don't get frustrated about what your not finding, cause the truth of the matter is that your just hunting where there's nothing there. Or atleast not what you want to find. Its not your fault. And my question to the masses is "is this true or am I wrong".

 

[Sheppie22]

Not to hijack a thread and I'm no expert by far but since we are asking questions here and this may help the OP, but I have a question. To me, this doesn't seem like rocket science. If your swinging a modern day detector across the ground and there's something there then your detector is going to see it. If there's nothing there then it won't. You can't make things appear where there is nothing there. The real talent with the guys who do this seems to me to be in research. The guys who know how to find out where there used to be a place that would be good to hunt and hold treasure's. So my feeling about the OP is don't get frustrated about what your not finding, cause the truth of the matter is that your just hunting where there's nothing there. Or atleast not what you want to find. Its not your fault. And my question to the masses is "is this true or am I wrong".

You are correct!

 

[unfound]

Your correct about those doing research....I've found many older sites through researching old maps.

I only began doing research after I had hit my own yard and several other yards of people I know and felt I had found the majority of the goodies, even though areas are never hunted out, including my own yard.

I've have found a lot more silver in mowed grass from 40's - 50's homes than anywhere. Who knew what was there back "in the day".
Just now getting into finding some old homesteads from the 1800's and hope to do better.

Dig everything, my detector lies to me everyday !!!!

 

[DDancer]

I remember that feeling. It was 5 years of detecting before my first silver. I'd found a lot of Wheaties, coin spills and junk but never any silver and I'd been very frustrated because I knew there had to be some silver still around~ detectorists before me could not have gotten it all. I don't know what changed for me but I suspect it was the machine and my attitude that changed it up. I'd been running around with a bounty hunter for the most part and a couple of old radio shack knock offs when I decided to save my pennies and get a serious machine. At the time it was the Garret GTI 2000 that I settled on after a bunch of research and reading in this forum and other detector forums. (nope I was not a poster then so I didn't ask the "What should I get?" question just hunkered down and did it)

My attitude changed as well. I used the tips from those same forums for a couple of years before the machine upgrade and they helped. One thing I was not doing however was paying attention to the area's I was hunting~ I actually sat down at the library and did some research. Seems those area's where I was finding the wheats had some history to them. Also those areas where it was wine cap heaven were in fact high traffic area's at one time before the hobo's took over

Armed with a good machine and a new outlook on my hunt I returned to the most frustrating park I knew, after research, should have something to offer~ even amongst the wine caps I had pulled wheats and some shallow coin spills in the past. I'd also gone hero mode on a few small grids there as well and knew the ratio of wine caps was 15 to 20 caps for every penny or dime found. I'd not been to that park for a year or so and when I got there the city had laid out markers for where they eventually installed *shudder* wood chip landscape fixtures. I started my hunt there and really began learning my new machine in hero mode. Oh the bottle caps came on like a flood. One thing I can say I do love about the GTI is its imaging ability After an hour I'd dumped my pouch twice and hit 3 wheats 4 modern dimes. All the caps and dimes were in the first 3 inches according to the detector. The wheats were 4 inches down each time~ so I concentrated on anything deeper than a bottle cap that gave me a beep. And cleaned out a lot of caps. My second hour was a relief from my frustration. At 4 inches a solid dime signal. My first silver 1943 Merc dime came shining out of the hole. I was pumped I can tell ya! I hit 3 more silver dimes by the end of the second hour, 2 Eisenhower's and another Merc plus a half dozen wheat's.

I still go to that park Its still full of wine caps and now occasionally I still get a wheat or a dime. I've only gotten one silver quarter out of there and I know there is deeper stuff to be had. Pulled my first 1800 coin out of a cut the city made to install a new parking lot for the museum they built on the corner of the lot~ a 1894 V nickel at 8 inches in a cut that was 1 foot deep

Take what you want from my story. Don't let the frustration get to you. Just keep swinging and it will come. Does not hurt to change up your game either. Hahh.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Anybody have an answer to this. I've asked myself the same question.

There would be silver out in the "woods" because there used to be activity there. Either people lived or passed thru the area. We haven't always had modern roads, people's means of travel used to be by river or horse or on foot thru the forests and such. Plus rivers change course, terrain changes, land is used for a different purpose. Have you ever seen where a house was and now trees are growing there- thus a forest in a few years. Land changes.

 

[Frankn]

Well, I skipped down from the top. What you have to do is think! Where would the people with the coinage have been. It is surprising, but you will probably find more coinage and rings either at the beach or IN A BACKYARD of an older home. I found this in a 200 year old back yard. Just a thought, Frank...-
Yes, that's a 3 ct ruby in gold.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Tiburcio, what part of CA do you live in ? My advice would be to hook up with someone in your area who is proficient at finding silver/old coins (ie.: not just "sandbox hunters"), and see if they'll let you tag along with them. See what type sites they hit. See/hear what type signals they're chasing (versus what they're passing). Flag signals for cross-comparisons between machines, etc... Only THEN will the "lights go on", and it will start to make sense.

If you're in my part of the state (Salinas), I'd show you some back-pocket sites that still pork out silver. Or if another part of the state, let me know what city, and I'll point you in the direction of sleuths from those areas. There's a CA specific forum "kinzli" forum, where a lot of persons from around this state participate on.

 

[BC1969]

Just keep at it and dig every repeatable signal. The silver will come. I have been at it since 1978 and you do go through some lean times. You just have to do research and find places where people have gathered for many years. I received permission about 3 years ago to hunt a now closed down golf course that dates back to 1936 as a golf course. Before that their were old homesteads on it as I have found several 1800's coins along with 141 silver coins. Be patient, it will come. Picture below is some of the silver from the golf course.
View attachment 1004638

Nice pile of silver Joe!

Mike

 

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

To answer the Woods question. You never know what might have been ther 100 years ago. It could have been a farm field, a hunter or trappers cabin area. Military troops passing through may have camped there. Not all woods areas are good detecting areas, but if you find one off the history charts, then you have a hot spot all to yourself.

Many of us here at T-Net went a few years before we found our first silver coin, like myself. So just hang in there and keep working at it.

 

[el padron]

I'm not sure where you're located, but it is absolutely amazing how fast a thick dense forest will grow over a gravel parking lot or trail.
Just a few years of disuse
15 years can render a location absolutely and completely unrecognizable

 

[tiburciovasquez]

Tiburcio, what part of CA do you live in ? My advice would be to hook up with someone in your area who is proficient at finding silver/old coins (ie.: not just "sandbox hunters"), and see if they'll let you tag along with them. See what type sites they hit. See/hear what type signals they're chasing (versus what they're passing). Flag signals for cross-comparisons between machines, etc... Only THEN will the "lights go on", and it will start to make sense. If you're in my part of the state (Salinas), I'd show you some back-pocket sites that still pork out silver. Or if another part of the state, let me know what city, and I'll point you in the direction of sleuths from those areas. There's a CA specific forum "kinzli" forum, where a lot of persons from around this state participate on.

I live in Los Angeles right now but I don't know of anybody else around here. I know there are clubs but I don't know much about them or if they would help. Most people around here hit the beaches but as far as the parks and other areas I seem to be the only one.

 

[Old Dude]

If everyone is on the beach, that is where I would NOT be. You're going to have to start asking your co-workers about older homes, researching where the old swimming holes were or just go door knocking in the older sections. The more time you spend in looking, the more you should be learning. Slow your swings down and if you hear a faint tone, swing over it from every direction. Make sure you double check your holes. Sometimes a target can get masked. Enjoy your time out in the hobby. It will happen for you if you don't give up and if you quit expecting it. Good luck.

 

[RustyGold]

All great advice from all of the above!

 

[GranvilleATPro]

Not to forget to mention coins in the woods tend to be much shallower. I've heard this is due to having no sod layer. Therefore the coins tend not to be pushed down over time. Watching typical YouTube videos confirms this as coins that are over 150 years old seem to consistently be shallow whereas in grass and sod they are much deeper. I've experience this scenario myself.

 

[Old Dude]

Not to forget to mention coins in the woods tend to be much shallower. I've heard this is due to having no sod layer. Therefore the coins tend not to be pushed down over time. Watching typical YouTube videos confirms this as coins that are over 150 years old seem to consistently be shallow whereas in grass and sod they are much deeper. I've experience this scenario myself.

Wow. I would have thought just the opposite. I thought the many layers of leaves would make objects be deep.

 

[dirtscratcher]

You can research as much as you want and that will work, but the simplest thing to do is drive to the oldest homes in your area and start knocking on doors and asking permission. That is where you will eventually find unhunted ground. Most people stating this hobby start at spots that look good but the problem is the spots also looked good to everybody else.